AUTHOR'S   EDITION. 


University  Press,  Cambridge  : 
ereotyped  and  Printed  by  Welch,  Bigclow,  &  Co. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


THE  reader  will  soon  discover  that  this  is  a  work 
requiring  no  introduction  to  his  attention.  Indeed, 
whoever  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  attractions  of  the 
interior,  will  not  be  disposed  patiently  to  listen  to 
any  details  intended  to  detain  him  on  the  threshold  ; 
and  I  have,  therefore,  thought  it  best  to  reserve  edi 
torial  explanations  for  the  end. 

The  Publishers  did  me  the  honor  to  place  in  my 
hands  the  manuscript  of  the  Autobiography,  and 
several  other  documents,  without  any  restriction  on 
the  extent  to  which  they  should  be  published.  The 
reader  is  entitled  to  explanations  both  as  to  the  na 
ture  and  condition  of  these  materials,  and  the  manner 
in  which  I  thought  it  fitting  to  execute  the  trust  con 
fided  to  me.  For  these  explanations  I  refer  to  the 
Supplementary  Chapter. 

J.  H.  BURTON. 

EDINBURGH,  November,  1860. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

1722-1736.  — AGE,  BIRTH  TO  14. 

PAGE 

His  BIRTH.  —  His  FATHER  AND  THE  FAMILY.  —  PRECOCIOUS  MIN- 
ISTERINGS. — PRESTONPANS  AND  ITS  SOCIAL  CIRCLE.  —  COLONEL 
CHARTERIS.  —  ERSKINE  OF  GRANGE.  —  LADY  GRANGE  AND  HER 
ADVENTURES.  —  COLONEL  GARDINER:  DODDRIDGE'S  ACCOUNT  OF 
ins  CONVERSION  CORRECTED.  —  THE  MURRAY  KEITHS.  —  A  TOUR 
TO  DUMFRIES.  —  THE  SOCIAL  HABITS  OF  THE  BORDERERS.  — 
HANGING  OF  A  BORDER  THIEF.  —  GOES  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF. 
EDINBURGH.  —  FIRST  SESSION.  —  His  TEACHERS  AND  COMPANIONS. 
-*DR.  WlTHERSPOON  OF  NEW  YORK.  —  SlR  JOHN  DALRYMPLE.  — 
M'LAURIN  THE  MATHEMATICIAN 1 

CHAPTER    II. 

1736-43:  AGE,  14-21. 

EVENTS  OF  THE  PORTEOUS  MOB.  —  SEES  THE  ESCAPE  OF  ROBERT 
SON  FROM  CHURCH.  —  PRESENT  AT  THE  EXECUTION  OF  WILSON, 
AND  PORTEOUS  FIRING  ON  THE  PEOPLE.  —  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE 
MOB.  — ^UNIVERSITY  STUDIES.  —  LOGIC.  —  RISE  OF  THE  MEDICAL 
SCHOOL.  —  ANECDOTES  AND  ADVENTURES. -*  REMINISCENCES  OF 
FELLOW-STUDENTS. —  SIR  JOHN  PRINGLE.  —  FIRST  ACQUAINTANCE 
WITH  ROBERTSON  THE  HISTORIAN  AND  JOHN  HOME  THE  DRAM 
ATIST.  —  ACHIEVEMENTS  IN  DANCING.  —  RUDDIMAN  THE  GRAM 
MARIAN. —  LOOKING  ABOUT  FOR  A  PROFESSION.  —  MEDICINE. — 
THE  ARMY.  —  THE  CHURCH.  —  AN  EVENING'S  ADVENTURES  WITH 
LORD  LOVAT  AND  ERSKINE  OF  GRANGE.  — «  ARRANGEMENTS  FOR 
STUDYING  IN  GLASGOW.  —  CLERICAL  CONVIVIALITIES.  -*-  LAST 
SESSION  AT  EDINBURGH 29 

CHAPTER    III.  v 

1743-1745:  AGE,  21-23. 

GOES  TO  GLASGOW.  —  LEECHMAN,  HUTCHESON,  AND  THE  OTHER 
PROFESSORS.  —  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  IN  GLASGOW.  —  RISE  OF 
TRADE.  —  ORIGIN  OF  GLASGOW  SUPPERS.  —  CLUBS.  —  HUTCHESON 
THE  METAPHYSICIAN.  —  SIMSON  AND  STEWART  THE  MATHEMA 
TICIANS. —  MOORE.  —  TOUR  AMONG  THE  CLERGY  OF  HADDINGTON: 


,' 


vi  CONTENTS. 


SKETCHES  OF  THEM.  —  THE  AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  GRAVE."  —  RE 
TURN  TO  GLASGOW.  —  COLLEGE  THEATRICALS.  —  TRAVELLING 
ADVENTURES.  —  NEWS  OF  THE  LANDING  OF  PRINCE  CHARLES. — 
A  VOLUNTEER  CORPS.  —  PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  DEFENCE  or 
EDINBURGH.  —  THE  MARCH  AND  RECALL  OF  THE  VOLUNTEERS. 
—  THE  PROVOST'S  CONDUCT.  —  ADVENTURES  AS  A  DISEMBODIED 
VOLUNTEER.  —  ADVENTURES  OF  JOHN  HOME  AND  ROBERTSON  THE 
HISTORIAN.  —  EXPEDITION  TO  VIEW  COPE'S  ARMY.  —  THE  POSI 
TION  OF  THE  TWO  ARMIES.  —  His  LAST  INTERVIEW  WITH  COLONEL 
GARDINER.  —  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  BE  WAKENED  WHEN  THE  BATTLE 

BEGINS.  —  Is   WAKENED,   AND    DESCRIPTION    OF   WHAT   HE    SEES.  — 

THE  BATTLE.  —  INCIDENTS.  —  INSPECTION  OF  THE  HIGHLAND 
ARMY.  —  PRINCE  CHARLES.  —  PREPARATIONS  FOR  GOING  TO  HOL 
LAND.  .  .  57 


CHAPTER    IV. 

1745-1746:   AGE,  21-22. 

SETS  OFF  FOR  HOLLAND.  —  A  CORPORATION  DINNER  AT  NEWCASTLE. 
—  ADVENTURES  AT  YARMOUTH.  —  LEYDEN  AND  THE  STUDENTS 
THERE.  —  JOHN  GREGORY.  —  JOHN  WILKES  —  IMMATERIALITY 
BAXTER.  —  CHARLES  TOWNSHEND.  —  DR.  AITKEN.  —  RETURN  TO 
BRITAIN.  —  FELLOW-PASSENGERS.  —  VIOLETTI  THE  DANCER.  — 
TAKEN  TO  COURT.  —  LONDON  SOCIETY.  —  THE  LYONS.  —  LORD 
HEATHFIELD.  — J^m.T.ETj  ^n  JOHN  BLAIR.  —  SUPPERS  AT  THE 
GOLDEN  BALL.  —  LONDON  GETTING  THE  NEWS  OF  THE  BATTLE 
OF  CULLODEN.  —  WlLLIAM  GUTHRIE  AND  ANSON'S  VOYAGES.  — 
BYRON'S  NARRATIVE.  —  THE  THEATRES  AND  THEATRICAL  CE 
LEBRITIES.  —  LITERARY  SOCIETY.  —  THOMSON.  —  ARMSTRONG.  — 
SECKER.  .  128 


CHAPTER    V. 

1746-1748:  AGE,  24-26. 

RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND.  —  ENGLISH  SCENERY.  —  WINDSOR.  —  OXFORD. 
—  TRAVELLING  ADVENTURES.  —  PRESENTED  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF 
COCKBURNSPATH.  —  SUBSEQUENTLY  SETTLED  AT  INVEKESK.  — 
His  SETTLEMENT  THERE  PROPHESIED  AND  FOREORDAINED.  —  AN 
ECDOTES.  —  ANTHONY  COLLINS.  —  SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  INVERESK  AND 
MUSSELBURGH.  —  ENGLISH  NOTION  THAT  THE  SCOTS  HAVE  NO 
HUMOR.  —  JOHN  HOME.  —  SKETCH  OF  THE  ASSISTANT  AT  IN 
VERESK.  162 

CHAPTER     VI. 

1748-1753:   AGE,  26-31. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  MATTERS.  —  THE  AFFAIR  OF  GEORGE  LOGAN.  — 
SKETCHES  OF  THE  CLERGY.  —  WEBSTER.  —  WALLACE.  —  CONTEM 
PORARY  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  —  THE  "MODERATES"  AND 
THE  "WILD"  PARTY.  —  THE  PATRONAGE  QUESTION.  —  RIDING 
COMMITTEES.  —  REVOLUTION  IN  CHURCH  POLITY,  AND  CARLYLE'S 
SHARE  IN  IT.  —  SKETCHES  OF  LEADERS  IN  THE  ASSEMBLY.  —  LORD 
ISLAY,  MARCHMONT,  SIR  GILBERT  ELLIOT  —  PRINCIPAL  TULLI- 
DELPH.  .  .184 


CONTENTS.  vii 

CHAPTER    VII.  " 

1753  - 1756  :  AGE,  31  -  34. 

SKETCHES  OF  SOCIETY.  —  LORD  MILTON.  —  LADY  HERVEY.  — -J>MOL- 
i. Kir's  VISIT.  —  CULLKN'S  Mnncini;s.  —  XOTICKS  AND  ANKCDOTKS 

~~OF  DAVID  HOIK,  ADAM  SMITH,  ADAM  FKIUH'SOX,  PR.  ROHKKT- 
SON,  DR.  BLAIR,  JOHN  HOME.  —  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SELECT 
SOCIETY.  —  COMPLETION  OF  THE  TRAGEDY  OF  "  DOUGLAS."  — 
ADVENTURES  OF  ITS  AUTHOR  AND  HIS  FRIENDS  IN  CONVEYING 
IT  TO  LONDON.  —  ADMIRAL  BYNG.  —  THE  CARRIER'S  INN.  .  .  210 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

1756  - 1758  :  AGE,  34  -  36. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  ACTING  THE  TRAGEDY  OF  "DOUGLAS"  IN  ED 
INBURGH.  —  THE  REHEARSAL.  —  THE  SUCCESS.  —  CARLYLE  AT 
TENDS. —  A  WAR  OF  PAMPHLETS.  —  REMOVED  INTO  THE  CHURCH 
COURTS. —  THE  "LIBEL"  AGAINST  CARLYLE.  —  THE  ECCLESIAS 
TICAL  CONFLICT.  —  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  COMBATANTS.  — 
THE  CLERGY  OF  SCOTLAND  AND  THE  STAGE.  —  CONDUCT  OF 
DUNDAS  AND  WEDDERBURN.  —  HOME  AND  HIS  SUCCESS.  —  ARCHI 
BALD  DUKE  OF  ARGYLL  AND  HIS  HABITS 252 

CHAPTER    IX. 

1758:  AGE,  36. 

'FINDS  ROBERTSON  IN  LONDON  ABOUT  HIS  HISTORY.  —  HOME  JOINS 
THEM.  —  THEIR  FRIENDS  AND  ADVENTURES.  —  CHATHAM. — JOHN     , 
BLAIR  THE  MATHEMATICIAN.  —  BISHOP  DOUGLAS.  —  SMOLLBTT  AND  <£. 
HIS  LE.VEE  OF  AUTHORS.  —  A  DAY  WITH  GARRICK*AT  HIS  VILLA. 
—  FEATS  AT   GOLF  THERE.  —  A  METHODIST  MEETING-HOUSE.  — 
THE  CLERGY  OF  SCOTLAND  AND  THE  WINDOW-TAX.  —  ADAM  THE 
ARCHITECT.  —  AN  EXPEDITION  TO  PORTSMOUTH.  —  ADVENTURES 
BY  LAND  AND  SEA.  —  MEETING  WITH  LORD  BUTE.  —  THE  JOUR 
NEY  HOME.  —  OXFORD.  —  WOODSTOCK.  —  BLENHEIM.  —  BIRMING 
HAM. —  LORD  LITTLETON.  —  SHENSTONE  AT  THE  LEASOWES.         .  271 

CHAPTER    X . 

1758  -  1759  :  AGE,  36  -  37. 

VISIT  TO  INVERARY.  —  PAMPHLET  IN  DEFENCE  OF  CHATHAM.  — 
CHARLES  TOWNSHEND  AND  THE  HOSPITALITIES  OF  DALKEITH.  — 
A  STORY  OF  A  HAUNCH  OF  VENISON.  —  WILKIE  OF  THE  "  EPIGO- 
NIAD." —  A  CORPORATION  Row  IN  DUMFRIES.  —  ANDREW  CROS- 
BIE.  —  OSSIAN  MACPHERSON.  —  THE  MILITIA  PAMPHLET.  .  .  307 

CHAPTER    XI. 

1760-1763:  AGE,  38-41. 

His  MARRIAGE.  —  SENTIMENTAL  RETROSPECTS.  —  PRESENT  HAPPI 
NESS,  -f  ADAM  FERGUSON  AND  SISTER  PEG. —  DEATH  OF  GEORGE 

II.   AND    THE    DUKE   OF    ARGYLE.  —  CHANGE    IN    THE   ADMINISTRA- 


Via  CONTENTS. 


TION  OF  SCOTCH  AFFAIRS.  —  NEWCASTLE  AND  ITS  SOCIETY  IN 
1760.  —  THE  EDINBURGH  POKER  CLUB.  —  LORD  ELIBANK'S  SEN 
TIMENTAL  ADVENTURES.  —  DR.  EOBERTSON  AND  THE  LEADER 
SHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND.  —  HARROGATE  AND  THE 
COMPANY  THERE.  —  ANDREW  MILLAR  THE  BOOKSELLER.  —  BEN 
JAMIN  FRANKLIN.  —  LORD  CLIVE 326 

CHAPTER     XII. 

1764-1766:  AGE,  42-44. 

DOMESTIC  AFFAIRS.  —  HENRY  DUNDAS.  —  HARROGATE  REVISITED. 

—  ADVENTURES  WITH  A  REMARKABLE  BORE./-  THE  AUTHOR  OF 
"  CRAZY  TALES."  —  AMBASSADOR  KEITH.  -^EDUCATION  OF  THE 
SCOTS  GENTRY.  —  JOHN  GREGORY.  —  MRS.  MONTAGUE  AND  HER 
COTERIE.  —  DEATH  OF  THE  AUTHOR'S  FATHER.  —  SUDDEN  DEATH 

OF  HIS  FRIEND  JARDINE.  —  CHURCH  POLITICS 361 

CHAPTER     XIII. 

1766-1768:  AGE,  44-46. 

VISIT  TO  LORD  GLASGOW  WITH  ROBERTSON.  —  CONVIVIALITIES.  — 
SYNOD  BUSINESS.  —  DR.  ARMSTRONG. — AN  EXCURSION  TO  TWEED- 
DALE  AND  ACROSS  THE  BORDER.  —  ADVENTURES  IN  CARLISLE.  — 

THE    DUKE  OF  BUCCLEUCH  AND   FESTIVITIES  AT  DALKEITH.  — 
ADAM  SMITH  THERE.  —  PROFESSOR  MILLAR  OF  GLASGOW.    .        .  381 
; 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

1769-1770:  AGE,  47-48. 
THE   CLERGY  OF   SCOTLAND  AND  THE   WINDOW-TAX.  —  CARLYLE 

APPOINTED      THEIR      CHAMPION.  —  SOJOURN     IN      LONDON.  —  THE 

SCOTCH  DANCING  ASSEMBLY.  —  THE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND'S 
CLAIMS  TO  CONSIDERATION.  —  NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  STATESMEN. 

—  DR.  DODD  PREACHING  TO  THE  MAGDALENS.  —  THE  CAREER  OF 
COLONEL  Dow.  —  ANECDOTES  OF  WOLFE  AND   QUEBEC.  —  GAR- 
RICK  AND  JOHN   HOME'S  PLAYS.  —  DECISION  OF  THE    DOUGLAS 
CAUSE.  —  LORD   MANSFIELD.  —  THE   EXCITEMENT.  —  CONVERSA 
TION  AT  MRS.  MONTAGUE'S.  —  THE   RETURN   HOME.  —  BACK  TO 
LONDON  ABOUT  THE  WINDOW-TAX.  —  ANECDOTES  OF  THE  FOR 
MATION  OF  THE  NORTH  MINISTRY.  —  CONCLUSION.          .        .        .  402 


SUPPLEMENTARY   CHAPTER, 

His  CORRESPONDENCE  ON  CHURCH  MATTERS.  —  His  INFLUENCE. — 
His  LIGHTER  CORRESPONDENCE.  —  THE  GREAT  CONTEST  OF  THE 
CLERKSHIP.  —  THE  AUGMENTATION  QUESTION.  —  POLITICS.  —  COL- 
LINS'S  ODE  ON  THE  SUPERSTITION  OF  THE  HIGHLANDS.  —  CAR 
LYLE  AND  POETRY.  —  DOMESTIC  HISTORY.  —  His  PERSONAL  AP 
PEARANCE.  —  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  HIS  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  — 
CONDITION  AND  EDITING  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPTS.  —  His  LAST 
DAYS.  —  His  DEATH 434 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


OP 


DB.  ALEXANDER  CAELYLE 


CHAPTER    I. 

1722-1736.  — AGE,  BIRTH  TO    14. 

His  BIRTH.  —  His  FATHER  AND  THE  FAMILY.  —  PRECOCIOUS  MINIS- 
TERINGS.  —  PRESTONPANS  AND  ITS  SOCIAL  CIRCLE.  —  COLONEL 
CHARTEKIS.  —  ERSKINE  OF  GRANGE.  —  LADY  GRANGE  AND  HER  AD 
VENTURES.  —  COLONEL  GARDINER  :  DODDRIDGE'S  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS 
CONVERSION  CORRECTED.  —  THE  MURRAY  KEITHS.  —  A  TOUR  TO 
DUMFRIES.  —  THE  SOCIAL  HABITS  OF  THE  BORDERERS.  —  HANGING 
OF  A  BORDER  THIEF.  —  GOES  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  EDINBURGH. 
—  FIRST  SESSION.  —  His  TEACHERS  AND  COMPANIONS.  —  DR.  WITH- 
BRSPOON  OF  NEW  YORK.  —  SIR  JOHN  DALRYMPLE.  —  M'LAURIN  THE 
MATHEMATICIAN. 

MUSSELBURGH,  Jan.  26, 1800. 

HAVING  observed  how  carelessly,  and  consequently  how 
falsely,  history  is  written,  I  have  long  resolved  to  note  down 
certain  facts  within  my  own  knowledge,  under  the  title  of 
Anecdotes  and  Characters  of  the  Times,  that  may  be  sub 
servient  to  a  future  historian,  if  not  to  embellish  his  page, 
yet  to  keep  him  within  the  bounds  of  truth  and  certainty. 

I  have  been  too  late  in  beginning  this  work,  as  on   this 

very  day   I   enter  on   the   seventy-ninth   year   of  my   age ; 

which  circumstance,  as  it  renders  it  not  improbable  that  I 

may    be  stopped  short  hi  the  middle  of  my  annals,  will  un- 

1 


Z  CHILDHOOD. 

doubtedly  make  it  difficult  for  me  to  recall  the  memory  of 
many  past  transactions  in  my"  long  life  with  that  precision 
and  clearness  which  such  a  work  requires.  But  I  will  ad 
mit  of  no  more  excuses  for  indolence  or  procrastination,  and 
endeavor  (with  God's  blessing)  to  serve  posterity,  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  with  such  a  faithful  picture  of  times  and 
characters  as  came  within  my  view  in  the  humble  and  pri 
vate  sphere  of  life,  in  comparison  with  that  of  many  others, 
in  which  I  have  always  acted;  remembering,  however,  that 
in  whatever  sphere  men  act,  the  agents  and  instruments  are 
still  the  same,  namely,  the  faculties  and  passions  of  human 
nature. 

The  first  characters  which  I  could  discriminate  were 
those  of  my  own  family,  which  I  was  able  to  mark  at  a 
very  early  age.  My  father  was  of  a  moderate  understand 
ing,  of  ordinary  learning  and  accomplishments  for  the  times, 
for  he  was  born  in  1 690 ;  of  a  warm,  open,  and  benevolent 
temper ;  most  faithful  and  diligent  in  the  duties  of  his  office, 
and  an  orthodox  and  popular  orator.  He  was  entirely  be 
loved  and  much  caressed  by  the  whole  parish.*  My  mother 
was  a  person  of  superior  understanding,  of  a  calm  and  firm 
temper,  of  an  elegant  and  reflecting  mind ;  and  considering 
that  she  was  the  eldest  of  seven  daughters  and  three  sons 
of  a  country  clergyman,  near  Dumfries,  and  was  born  in 
1700,  she  had  received  an  education,  and  improved  by  it, 
far  beyond  what  could  have  been  expected.  Good  sense, 
however,  and  dignity  of  conduct,  were  her  chief  attributes. 
The  effect  of  this  was,  that  she  was  as  much  respected  as 
my  father  was  beloved. 

They  were  in  very  narrow  circumstances  till  the  stipend 
was  largely  augmented  in  the  year  1732.  Two  of  the  judges, 
who  were  his  heritors,  Lords  Grange  and  Drummore,  came 

*  He  was  minister  of  the  parish  of  Prestonpans. 


THE  FAMILY.  3 

down  from  the  bench  and  pleaded  his  cause.*  And  the 
estate  of  the  patron,  then  Morison  of  Prestongrange,  being 
under  sequestration,  it  was  with  little  difficulty  that  a  greater 
augmentation  than  was  usual  at  that  period  was  obtained ;  for 
the  stipend  was  raised  by  it  from  £.  70  to  £  140  per  annum. 

In  the  year  1729  the  good  people  had  a  visit  from  London 
that  proved  expensive  and  troublesome.  It  was  Mrs.  Lyon, 
a  sister  of  my  father's,  and  her  son  and  daughter.  Her  de 
ceased  husband  was  Mr.  Lyon  of  Easter  Ogill,  a  branch  of 
the  Strathmore  family,  who  had  been  in  the  Rebellion  of 
1715,  and,  having  been  pardoned,  had  attempted  to  carry  on 
business  in  London,  but  was  ruined  in  the  South  Sea.f  This 
lady,  who  came  down  on  business,  after  a  few  weeks  went 
into  lodgings  in  Edinburgh,  where  she  lost  her  daughter  hi 
the  small-pox,  and  soon  after  returned  to  my  father's,  where 
she  remained  for  some  months.  She  was  young  and  beauti 
ful,  and  vain,  not  so  much  of  her  person  (to  which  she  had 
a  good  title)  as  of  her  husband's  great  family,  to  which  she 
annexed  her  own,  and,  by  a  little  stretch  of  imagination  and 
a  search  into  antiquity,  made  it  great  also.  Her  son,  who 
was  a  year  and  a  half  older  than  myself,  was  very  handsome 
and  good-natured,  though  much  indulged.  My  father  was 
partial  to  him,  and  I  grew  a  little  jealous.  But  the  excess 
of  his  mother's  fondness  soon  cured  my  father  of  his ;  and  as 
I  was  acknowledged  to  be  the  better  scholar  of  the  two,  I 
soon  lost  all  uneasiness,  and  came  to  love  my  cousin  most 
sincerely,  though  he  intercepted  many  of  the  good  things  that 
I  should  have  got. 

Not  long  after  this  another  sister  of  my  father's  came 
down  from  London,  who  was  a  widow  also,  but  had  no 

*  His  heritors,  —  that  is  to  say,  proprietors  of  land  in  his  parish  liable  to 
contribute  to  the  payment  of  his  stipend.  —  ED. 
t  Viz.,  the  South-Sea  Scheme. 


4  PRESTONPANS. 

children.  She  stayed  with  us  for  a  year,  and  during  that  time 
taught  me  to  read  English,  with  just  pronunciation  and  a  very 
tolerable  accent,  —  an  accomplishment  which  in  those  days 
was  very  rare.  Long  before  she  came  down,  I  had  been 
taught  to  read  by  an  old  woman,  who  kept  a  school,  so  per 
fectly,  that  at  six  years  of  age  I  had  read  a  large  portion  of 
the  Bible  to  a  dozen  of  old  women,  who  had  been  excluded 
the  church  by  a  crowd  which  had  made  me  leave  it  also,  and 
whom  I  observed  sitting  on  the  outside  of  a  door,  where  they 
could  not  hear.  Upon  this  I  proposed  to  read  a  portion  of 
Scripture  to  them,  to  which  they  agreed,  and  set  me  on  a 
tombstone,  whence  I  read  very  audibly  to  a  congregation, 
—  which  increased  to  about  a  score,  —  the  whole  of  the  Song 
of  Solomon.  This  would  not  deserve  to  be  noted,  but  for 
the  effect  it  had  afterwards. 

There  lived  in  the  town  and  parish  of  Prestonpans  at 
this  time  several  respectable  and  wealthy  people,  —  such  as 
the  Mathies,  the  Hogs,  the  Youngs,  and  the  Shirreffs.  There 
still  remained  some  foreign  trade,  though  their  shipping  had 
been  reduced  from  twenty  to  half  the  number  since  the 
Union,  which  put  an  end  to  the  foreign  trade  in  the  ports 
of  the  Firth  of  Forth.  There  was  a  custom-house  estab 
lished  here,  the  superior  officers  of  which,  with  their  fam 
ilies,  added  to  the  mercantile  class  which  still  remained, 
made  a  respectable  society  enough. 

The  two  great  men  of  the  parish,  however,  were  Mori- 
son  of  Prestongrange,  the  patron,  and  the  Honorable  James 
Erskine  of  Grange,  one  of  the  Supreme  Judges.  The  first 
was  elected  Member  of  Parliament  for  East  Lothian,  in 
the  first  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  although  the  cele 
brated  Andrew  Fletcher  of  Saltoun  was  the  other  candidate. 
But  Government  took  part  with  Morison,  and  Fletcher  had 
only  nine  votes.  Morison  had  been  very  rich,  but  had  suf- 


COLONEL   CHARTERIS.  5 

fered  himself  to  be  stripped  by  the  famous  gambler  of  those 
times,  Colonel  Charteris,  whom  I  once  saw  with  him  in 
church,  when  I  was  five  or  six  years  of  age;  and  being 
fully  impressed  with  the  popular  opinion  that  he  was  a 
wizard,  who  had  a  fascinating  power,  I  never  once  took  my 
eyes  off  him  during  the  whole  service,  believing  that  I 
should  be  a  dead  man  the  moment  I  did.  This  Colonel 
Charteris  was  of  a  very  ancient  family  in  Dumfriesshire, 
the  first  of  whom,  being  one  of  the  followers  of  Robert 
Bruce,  had  acquired  a  great  estate,  a  small  part  of  which 
is  still  in  the  family.  The  Colonel  had  been  otherwise 
well  connected,  for  he  was  cousin-german  to  Sir  Francis 
Kinloch,  and,  when  a  boy,  was  educated  with  him  at  the 
village  school.  Many  stories  were  told  of  him,  which  would 
never  have  been  heard  of  had  he  not  afterwards  been  so 
much  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  infamy.  He  was  a  great 
profligate,  no  doubt,  but  there  have  been  as  bad  men  and 
greater  plunderers  than  he  was,  who  have  escaped  with 
little  public  notice.  But  he  was  one  of  the  Runners  of  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  and  defended  him  in  all  places  of  resort, 
which  drew  the  wrath  of  the  Tories  upon  him,  and  partic 
ularly  sharpened  the  pens  of  Pope  and  Arbuthnot  against 
him.  For  had  it  not  been  for  the  witty  epitaph  of  the 
latter,  Charteris  might  have  escaped  in  the  crowd  of  game 
sters  and  debauchees,  who  are  only  railed  at  by  their 
pigeons,  and  soon  fall  into  total  oblivion.  This  simple  gen 
tleman's  estate  [Morison's]  soon  went  under  sequestration 
for  the  payment  of  his  debts.  He  was  so  imaginary  and 
credulous  as  to  believe  that  close  by  his  creek  of  Morison's 
Haven  was  the  place  Avhere  St.  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse, 
because  some  old  vaults  had  been  discovered  in  digging  a 
mill-race  for  a  mill  that  went  by  sea-water.  This  had 
probably  been  put  into  his  head  by  the  annual  meeting  of 


6  LORD  AND  LADY   GRANGE. 

the  oldest  lodge  of  operative  masons  in  Scotland  at  that 
place,  on  St.  John's  day. 

My  Lord  Grange  was  the  leading  man  in  the  parish,  and 
had  brought  my  father  to  Prestonpans  from  Cumbertrees  in 
his  native  county  Annandale,  where  he  had  been  settled 
for  four  years,  and  where  I  was  born.  Lord  Grange  was 
Justice-Clerk  in  the  end  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  but  had  been 
dismissed  from  that  office  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
George  I.,  when  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Mar,  lost  the  Secre 
tary  of  State's  office,  which  he  had  held  for  some  years. 
After  this,  and  during  the  Rebellion,  Lord  Grange  kept  close 
at  his  house  of  Preston,  on  an  estate  which  he  had  recently 
bought  from  the  heirs  of  a  Dr.  Oswald,  but  which  had  not 
long  before  been  the  family  estate  of  a  very  ancient  cadet  of 
the  family  at  Hamilton.  During  the  Rebellion,  and  some  time 
after,  Lord  Grange  amused  himself  in  laying  out  and  planting 
a  fine  garden,  in  the  style  of  those  times,  full  of  close  walks 
and  labyrinths  and  wildernesses,  which,  though  it  did  not 
occupy  above  four  or  five  acres,  cost  one  at  least  two  hours 
to  perambulate.  This  garden  or  pleasure-ground  was  soon 
brought  to  perfection  by  his  defending  it  from  the  westerly 
and  southwesterly  winds  by  hedges  of  common  elder,  which 
in  a  few  years  were  above  sixteen  feet  high,  and  completely 
sheltered  all  the  interior  grounds.  This  garden  continued  to 
be  an  object  of  curiosity  down  to  the  year  1740,  insomuch  that 
flocks  of  company  resorted  to  it  from  Edinburgh,  during  the 
summer,  on  Saturdays  and  Mondays  (for  Sunday  was  not  at 
that  time  a  day  of  pleasure),  and  were  highly  gratified  by  the 
sight,  there  being  nothing  at  that  time  like  it  in  Scotland, 
except  at  Alloa,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Mar,  of  which  indeed 
it  was  a  copy  in  miniature. 

My  Lady  Grange  was  Rachel  Chiesly,  the  daughter  of 
Chiesly  of  Dairy,  the  person  who  shot  President  Lockhart  in 


LORD  AND   LADY  GRANGE.  7 

the  dark,  when  standing  within  the  head  of  a  close  in  the 
Lawnmarket,  because  he  had  voted  against  him  in  a  cause 
depending  before  the  Court.*  He  was  the  son  or  grandson 
of  a  Chiesly,  who,  in  Baillie's  Letters,  is  called  Man  to  the 
famous  Mr.  Alexander  Henderson ;  that  is  to  say,  secretary, 
for  he  accompanied  Mr.  Henderson  on  his  journey  to  London, 
and  having  met  the  Court  somewhere  on  their  way,  Chiesly 
was  knighted  by  Charles  I. ;  so  that,  being  a  new  family,  they 
must  have  had  few  relations,  which,  added  to  the  atrocious 
deed  of  her  father,  had  made  the  public  very  cool  in  the  inter 
est  of  Lady  Grange.  This  lady  had  been  very  beautiful,  but 
was  of  a  violent  temper.  She  had,  it  was  said,  been  de 
bauched  by  her  husband  before  marriage ;  and  as  he  was 
postponing  or  evading  the  performance  of  his  promise  to 
marry  her,  it  was  believed  that,  by  threatening  his  life,  she 
had  obtained  the  fulfilment  of  it. 

It  was  Lord  Grange's  custom  to  go  frequently  to  London 
in  the  spring;  and  though  he  seemed  quiet  and  inactive 
here,  it  was  supposed  that  he  resented  his  having  been 
turned  out  of  the  Justice- Clerk's  office  in  1714,  and  might 
secretly  be  carrying  on  plots  when  at  London.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  he  had  contracted  such  a  violent  aversion  at  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  that,  having  by  intrigue  and  hypocrisy 
secured  a  majority  of  the  district  of  burghs  of  which  Stir 
ling  is  the  chief,  he  threw  up  his  seat  as  a  Judge  in  the 

*  It  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  decision  of  the  Court  that  infuriated 
Chiesly,  but  a  finding  in  an  arbitration.  He  was  desirous,  and  thought 
himself  entitled,  to  leave  his  wife,  with  whom  he  had  quarrelled,  and  his 
children,  to  starve.  The  question  of  his  liability  for  their  support  having 
been  referred  to  President  Lockhart  and  Lord  Kemnay,  they  found  him 
bound  to  make  his  family  an  allowance.  It  may  be  proper  to  explain  that 
Grange  and  his  wife  were  not  Lord  and  Lady  in  the  English  sense,  as  a  peer 
and  peeress,  but  by  the  custom  of  Scotland,  which  gives  "  Lord  "  to  a  judge, 
and  used  to  give  "  Lady  "  to  the  wife  of  a  landed  proprietor.  —  ED. 


8  LOED  AND  LADY  GEANGE. 

Court  of  Session,  was  elected  member  for  that  district,  and 
went  to  London  to  attend  Parliament,  and  to  overturn  Sir 
Robert  Walpole,  not  merely  in  his  own  opinion,  but  in  the 
opinion  of  many  who  were  dupes  to  his  cunning,  and  his 
pretensions  to  abilities  that  he  had  not.*  But  his  first  ap 
pearance  in  the  House  of  Commons  undeceived  his  sanguine 
friends,  and  silenced  him  forever.  He  chose  to  make  his 
maiden  speech  on  the  Witches  Bill,  as  it  was  called;  and, 
being  learned  in  da?monologia,  with  books  on  which  subject 
his  library  was  filled,  he  made  a  long,  canting  speech  that 
set  the  House  in  a  titter  of  laughter,  and  convinced  Sir 
Robert  that  he  had  no  need  of  any  extraordinary  armor 
against  this  champion  of  the  house  of  Mar.t  The  truth 
was,  that  the  man  had  neither  learning  nor  ability.  He  was 
no  lawyer,  and  he  was  a  bad  speaker.  He  had  been  raised 
on  the  shoulders  of  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Mar,  in  the  end 
of  the  Queen's  reign,  but  had  never  distinguished  himself. 

*  A  Bill  to  regulate  elections  in  Scotland  was  then  passing,  and  Wal 
pole  added  to  it  a  clause  disqualifying  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Session  from 
sitting  in  Parliament,  for  the  purpose,  it  was  said,  of  keeping  Erskine 
out.  — ED. 

t  The  "  Act  to  repeal  the  statute  made  in  the  first  year  of  King  James  L, 
intituled  'An  Act  against  Conjuration,  Witchcraft,  and  dealing  with  evil 
and  wicked  Spirits,  except  so  much  thereof,"  &c.,  was  passed  early  in  the 
session  of  1735.  Unfortunately,  we  have  no  account  of  any  debate  on  the 
measure,  and  thus  lose  Erskine's  speech,  which  was  probably  curious,  for 
the  vulgar  superstitions  of  the  day  seem  to  have  taken  fast  hold  on  him, 
and  his  diary  is  full  of  dreams,  prognostics,  and  communings  with  persons 
supernaturally  gifted.  The  tenor  of  his  "  canting  speech  "  may  perhaps  be 
inferred  from  the  following  testimony  borne  in  1743  against  the  same  Bill, 
by  the  Associate  Presbytery:  "The  penal  statutes  against  witches  have 
been  repealed  by  the  Parliament,  contrary  to  the  express  law  of  God;  by 
which  a  holy  God  may  be  provoked,  in  a  way  of  righteous  judgment,  to 
leave  those  who  are  already  ensnared  to  be  hardened  more  and  more,  and 
to  permit  Satan  to  tempt  and  seduce  others  to  the  same  wicked  and  dan 
gerous  snares."  —  ED. 


LORD   AND  LADY   GRANGE.  9 

Iii  the  General  Assembly  itself,  which  many  gentlemen 
afterwards  made  a  school  of  popular  eloquence,  and  where 
he  took  the  high-flying  side  that  he  might  annoy  govern 
ment,  his  appearances  were  but  rare  and  unimpressive ; 
but  as  he  was  understood  to  be  a  great  plotter,  he  was  sup 
posed  to  reserve  himself  for  some  greater  occasions. 

In  Mr.  Erskine's  annual  visits  to  London,  he  had  attached 
himself  to  a  mistress,  a  handsome  Scotchwoman,  Fanny 
Lindsay,  who  kept  a  coffee-house  about  the  bottom  of  the 
Haymarket.  This  had  come  to  his  lady's  ears,  and  did  not 
tend  to  make  her  less  outrageous.  He  had  taken  every 
method  to  soothe  her.  As  she  loved  command,  he  had  made 
her  factor  upon  his  estate,  and  given  her  the  whole  manage 
ment  of  his  affairs.  "When  absent,  he  wrote  her  the  most 
flattering  letters,  and,  what  was  still  more  flattering,  he  was 
said,  when  present,  to  have  imparted  secrets  to  her,  which, 
if  disclosed,  might  have  reached  his  life.  Still  she  was 
unquiet,  and  led  him  a  miserable  life.  What  was  true  is 
uncertain;  for  though  her  outward  appearance  was  stormy 
and  outrageous,  Lord  Grange  not  improbably  exaggerated 
the  violence  of  her  behavior  to  his  familiar  friends  as  an 
apology  for  what  he  afterwards  did ;  for  he  alleged  to  them 
that  his  life  was  hourly  in  danger,  and  that  she  slept  with 
lethal  weapons  under  her  pillow.  He  once  showed  my 
father  a  razor  which  he  had  found  concealed  there. 

Whatever  might  be  the  truth,  he  executed  one  of  the 
boldest  and  most  violent  projects  that  ever  had  been  at 
tempted  since  the  nation  was  governed  by  laws ;  for  he 
seized  his  lady  in  his  house  in  Edinburgh,  and  by  main 
force  carried  her  off  through  Stirling  to  the  Highlands, 
whence,  after  several  weeks,  she  was  at  last  landed  in  St. 
Kilda,  a  desolate  isle  in  the  Western  Ocean,  sixty  miles 
distant  from  the  Long  Island.  There  she  continued  to  live 
1  * 


10  LOED  AND  LADY  GRANGE. 

to  the  end  of  her  days,  which  was  not  before  the  year  17 — , 
in  the  most  wretched  condition,  in  the  society  of  none  but 
savages,  and  often  with  scanty  provision  of  the  coarsest 
fare,  and  but  rarely  enjoying  the  comfort  of  a  pound  of  tea, 
which  she  sometimes  got  from  shipmasters  who  accidentally 
called.*  Lord  Grange's  accomplices  in  this  atrocious  act 
were  believed  to  be  Lord  Lovat  and  the  Laird  of  M'Leod, 
the  first  as  being  the  most  famous  plotter  in  the  kingdom, 
and  the  second  as  equally  unprincipled,  and  the  proprietor 
of  the  island  of  St.  Kilda.  What  was  most  extraordinary 
was,  that,  except  in  conversation  for  a  few  weeks  only,  this 
enormous  act,  committed  in  the  midst  of  the  metropolis  of 
Scotland  by  a  person  who  had  been  Lord  Justice-Clerk,  was 
not  taken  the  least  notice  of  by  any  of  her  own  family,  or 
by  the  king's  advocate  or  solicitor,  or  any  of  the  guardians 
of  the  laws.  Two  of  her  sons  were  grown  up  to  manhood, 
—  her  eldest  daughter  was  the  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Kintore,  — 
who  acquiesced  in  what  they  considered  as  a  necessary  act 
of  justice  for  the  preservation  of  their  father's  life.  Nay,  the 
second  son  was  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  persons  who  came 
masked  to  the  house  and  carried  her  off  in  a  chair  to  the 
place  where  she  was  set  on  horseback. 

This  artful  man,  by  cant  and  hypocrisy,  persuaded  all  his 
intimate  friends  that  this  act  was  necessary  for  the  preser 
vation  of  her  life  as  well  as  of  his ;  and  that  it  was  only 
confining  a  mad  woman  in  a  place  of  safety,  where  she  was 
tenderly  cared  for,  and  for  whom  he  professed  not  merely 
an  affectionate  regard,  but  the  most  passionate  love.  It  was 
many  years  afterwards  before  it  was  known  that  she  had 

*  She  was  carried  off  in  1732 ;  and  after  being  detained  about  two  years 
in  the  small  island  of  Hesker,  was  conveyed  to  St.  Kilda.  On  the  affair 
getting  wind,  she  was  afterwards  removed  to  Harris,  where  she  died  in  1745, 
before  the  arrangements  for  obtaining  her  release,  and  a  full  inquiry  into  the 
affair,  could  be  completed.  —  ED. 


LORD  AND  LADY  GRANGE.  11 

been  sent  to  such  a  horrid  place  at  St.  Kilda;  and  it  was 
generally  believed  that  she  was  kept  comfortably,  thdugh  in 
confinement  in  some  castle  in  the  Highlands  belonging  to 
Lovat  or  M'Leod.  The  public  in  general,  though  clamor 
ous  enough,  could  take  no  step,  seeing  that  the  family  were 
not  displeased,  and  supposing  that  Lord  Grange  had  satis 
fied  the  Justice-Clerk  and  other  high  officers  of  the  law  with 
the  propriety  of  his  conduct. 

From  what  I  could  learn  at  the  time,  and  afterwards  came 
to  know,  Lord  Grange  was  in  one  respect  a  character  not 
unlike  Cromwell  and  some  of  his  associates,  —  a  real  en 
thusiast,  but  at  the  same  time  licentious  in  his  morals. 

He  had  my  father  very  frequently  with  him  in  the  even 
ings,  and  kept  him  to  very  late  hours.  They  were  under 
stood  to  pass  much  of  their  time  in  prayer,  and  in  settling 
the  high  points  of  Calvinism;  for  their  creed  was  that  of 
Geneva.  Lord  Grange  was  not  unentertaining  in  conver 
sation  ;  for  he  had  a  great  many  anecdotes  which  he  related 
agreeably,  and  was  fair-complexioned,  good-looking,  and 
insinuating. 

After  those  meetings  for  private  prayer,  however,  in  which 
they  passed  several  hours  before  supper,  praying  alternately, 
they  did  not  part  without  wine ;  for  my  mother  used  to 
complain  of  their  late  hours,  and  suspected  that  the  claret 
had  flowed  liberally.*  Notwithstanding  this  intimacy,  there 
were  periods  of  half  a  year  at  a  time  when  there  was  no 
intercourse  between  them  at  all.  My  father's  conjecture  was, 

*  Those  meetings  might  partly  be  calculated  to  keep  Grange  free  of  his 
wife's  company,  which  was  always  stormy  and  outrageous.  I  remember 
well  that  when  I  was  invited  on  Saturdays  to  pass  the  afternoon  with  the 
two  youngest  daughters,  Jean  and  Rachel,  and  their  younger  brother  John, 
who  was  of  my  age,  then  about  six  or  seven,  although  they  had  a  well- 
fitted-up  closet  for  children's  play,  we  always  kept  alternate  watch  at  the 
door,  lest  my  lady  should  come  suddenly  upon  us ;  which  was  needless,  as 


12  LORD  AND   LADY   GRANGE. 

that  at  those  times  he  was  engaged  in  a  course  of  debauchery 
at  Edinburgh,  and  interrupted  his  religious  exercises.  For 
in  those  intervals  he  not  only  neglected  my  father's  company, 
but  absented  himself  from  church,  and  did  not  attend  the 
sacrament,  —  religious  services  which  at  other  times  he  would 
not  have  neglected  for  the  world.  Report,  however,  said 
that  he  and  his  associates,  of  whom  a  Mr.  Michael  Menzies, 
a  brother  of  the  Laird  of  St.  Germains,  and  Thomas  Elliott, 
W.  S.  (the  father  of  Sir  John  Elliott,  physician  in  London), 
were  two,  passed  their  time  in  alternate  scenes  of  the  ex 
ercises  of  religion  and  debauchery,  spending  the  day  in  meet- 

I  observed  to  them,  for  her  clamor  was  sufficiently  loud  as  she  came  through 
the  rooms  and  passages. 

In  the  "  Recollections  "  there  is  the  following  account  of  an  interview  with 
the  lady :  — 

"I  had  travelled  half  a  mile  westwards  to  the  Red  Burn,  which  divides 
Prestonpans  from  its  suburbs  the  Cuthill,  and  was  hovering  on  the  brink  of 
this  river,  uncertain  whether  or  not  I  should  venture  over.  In  this  state  I 
was  met  by  a  coach,  which  stopped,  and  which  was  under  the  command  of 
Lady  Grange.  She  ordered  her  footman  to  seize  me  directly  and  put  me 
in*to  the  coach.  It  was  in  vain  to  fly,  so  I  was  flung  into  her  coach  reluc 
tant  and  sulky.  She  tried  to  soothe  me,  but  it  would  not  do.  She  had 
provoked  me  on  the  Sunday,  by  telling  my  father  that  I  played  myself  at 
church,  that  she  had  detected  me  smiling  at  her  son  John  (exactly  of  my 
age),  and  trying  to  write  with  my  finger  on  the  dusty  desk  that  was  before 
me.  She  was  gorgeously  dressed:  her  face  was  like  the  moon,  and  patched 
all  over,  not  for  ornament,  but  use.  For  these  eighty  years  that  I  have  been 
wandering  in  this  wilderness,  I  have  seen  nothing  like  her  but  General  Dick- 
son  of  Kilbucho.  In  short,  she  appeared  to  me  to  be  the  lady  with  whom 
all  well-educated  children  were  acquainted,  the  Great  Scarlet  Whore  of 
Babylon.  She  landed  me  at  my  father's  door,  and  gave  me  to  my  mother, 
with  injunctions  to  keep  me  nearer  home,  or  I  would  be  lost.  This,  how 
ever,  drew  on  a  nearer  connection,  for  the  two  misses,  who  had  been  in  the 
coach,  came  down  with  John,  who  was  younger  than  them,  and  invited  me 
to  drink  tea  with  them  next  Saturday:  to  this  I  had  no  aversion,  and  went 
accordingly.  The  young  ladies  had  a  fine  closet,  charmingly  furnished, 
with  chairs,  a  table,  a  set  of  china  and  everything  belonging  to  it.  The 
misses  set  about  making  tea,  for  they  had  a  fire  in  the  room,  and  a  maid 


LOKD  AND  LADY  GRANGE.  13 

ings  for  prayer  and  pious  conversation,  and  their  nights  in 
lewdness  and  revelling.  Some  men  are  of  opinion  that  they 
could  not  be  equally  sincere  in  both.  I  am  apt  to  think  that 
they  were  ;  for  human  nature  is  capable  of  wonderful  freaks. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  their  profligacy ;  and  I  have  frequently 
seen  them  drowned  in  tears,  during  the  whole  of  a  sacra 
mental  Sunday,  when,  so  far  as  my  observation  could  reach, 
they  could  have  no  rational  object  in  acting  a  part.*  The 
Marquess  of  Lothian  of  that  day,  whom  I  have  seen  attending 
the  sacrament  at  Prestonpans  with  Lord  Grange,  and  whom 
no  man  suspected  of  plots  or  hypocrisy,  was  much  addicted 

came  to  help  them,  till  at  length  we  heard  a  shrill  voice  screaming,  '  Mary 
Erskine,  my  angel  Mary  Erskine ! ' 

"  This  was  Countess  of  Kintore  afterwards,  and  now  very  near  that  honor. 
The  girls  seemed  frightened  out  of  their  wits,  and  so  did  the  maid.  The 
clamor  ceased ;  but  the  girls  ordered  John  and  me  to  stand  sentry  in  our 
turns,  with  vigilant  ear,  and  give  them  notice  whenever  the  storm  began 
again.  We  had  sweet-cake  and  almonds  and  raisins,  of  which  a  small  paper 
bag  was  given  me  for  my  brother  Loudwick,  James,  Lord  Grange's  godson, 
who  came  last,  being  still  at  nurse.  I  had  no  great  enjoyment,  notwith 
standing  the  good  things  and  the  kisses  given,  for  I  had  by  contagion  caught 
a  mighty  fear  of  my  lady  from  them.  But  I  was  soon  relieved,  for  my 
father's  man  came  for  me  at  seven  o'clock.  The  moment  I  was  out  of  sight 
of  the  house,  I  took  out  my  paper  bag  and  ate  up  its  contents,  bribing  the 
servant  with  a  few,  for  Loudwick  was  gone  to  his  native  country  to  die  at 
our  grandfather's.  When  I  read  the  fable  of  the  '  City  Mouse  and  Country 
Mouse,'  this  scene  came  fresh  to  my  memory.  What  trials  and  dangers 
have  children  to  go  through!  " 

*  Grange  kept  a  diary,  a  portion  of  which  was  printed  in  1834,  under  the 
title,  Extracts  from  the  Diary  of  a  Member  of  the  G>llege  of  Justice.  It  tend?, 
on  the  whole,  to  confirm  Carlyle's  view  of  his  character;  but  it  is  drier 
reading  than  one  would  expect  from  the  self-communings  of  a  man  whose 
character  was  cast  between  extremes  so  wide  apart,  and  whose  career  had 
been  so  remarkable.  Along  with  the  hankering  after  dreams  and  prophe 
cies  already  alluded  to,  it  contains  chiefly  accounts  of  his  conduct  and  views 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  church  courts.  It  mentions  some  pieces  of  conduct 
on  his  own  part,  which,  if  not  criminal,  would  not  then,  or  now,  be  deemed 
very  consistent  with  honor,  —  as,  for  instance,  how  he  examined  a  private 


14  COLONEL  GARDINER 

to  debauchery.  The  natural  casuistry  of  the  passions  grants 
dispensations  with  more  facility  than  the  Church  of  Rome. 

About  this  time  two  or  three  other  remarkable  men  came 
to  live  in  the  parish.  The  celebrated  Col.  Gardiner  bought 
the  estate  of  Banktoun,  where  Lord  Drummore  had  resided 
for  a  year  or  two  before  he  bought  the  small  estate  of  "West- 
pans,  which  he  called  Drummore,  and  where  he  resided  till 
his  death,  in  1755. 

The  first  Gardiner,  who  was  afterwards  killed  in  the  battle 
of  Preston,  was  a  noted  enthusiast,  a  very  weak,  honest,  and 
brave  man,  who  had  once  been  a  great  rake,  and  was  con 
verted,  as  he  told-  my  father,  by  his  reading  a  book  called 
Gurnall's  Christian  Armor,  which  his  mother  had  put  in  his 
trunk  many  years  before.  He  had  never  looked  at  it  till  one 
day  at  Paris,  where  he  was  attending  the  Earl  of  Stair,  who 
was  ambassador  to  that  court  from  the  year  1715  to  the 
Regent's  death,  when,  having  an  intrigue  with  a  surgeon's 
wife,  and  the  hour  of  appointment  not  being  come,  he 
thought  he  would  pass  the  time  in  turning  over  the  leaves 
of  the  book,  to  see  what  the  divine  could  say  about  armor, 

diary  kept  by  the  family  txitor,  in  order  that  he  might  see  what  was  said 
therein  about  himself  and  his  household;  and  the  result,  as  people  who 
pursue  such  investigations  usually  find,  was  not  agreeable.  Each  reader 
will  judge  for  himself  how  much  sincerity  there  is  in  the  following  extract 
from  the  diary:  "  I  have  reason  to  thank  God  that  I  was  put  out  from  the 
office  of  Justice-Clerk,  for  besides  many  reasons  from  the  times  and  my 
own  circumstances,  and  other  reasons  from  myself,  this  one  is  sufficient,  — 
that  I  have  thereby  so  much  more  time  to  employ  about  God  and  religion. 
If  I  consider  how  very  much  more  I  have  since  I  was  neither  concerned  in 
the  Court  of  Justiciary  nor  in  the  politics,  how  can  I  answer  for  the  little 
advances  I  have  made  in  the  knowledge  of  religion?  If,  while  I  have  that 
leisure,  I  be  enabled,  through  grace,  to  improve  it  for  that  end,  I  need  not 
grudge  the  want  of  the  £,  400  sterling  yearly:  for  this  is  worth  all  the  world, 
and  God  can  provide  for  my  family  in  his  own  good  time  and  way."  — 
p.  84. 


COLONEL   GARDINER  AND  DODDRIDGE.  15 

which  he  thought  he  understood  as  well  as  he.  He  was  so 
much  taken  with  this  book  that  he  allowed  his  hour  of 
appointment  to  pass,  never  saw  his  mistress  more,  and  "from 
that  day  left  off  all  his  rakish  habits,  which  consisted  in 
swearing  and  whoring  (for  he  never  was  a  drinker),  and  the 
contempt  of  sacred  things,  and  became  a  serious  good  Chris 
tian  ever  after. 

Dr.  Doddridge  has  marred  this  story,  either  through  mis 
take  or  through  a  desire  to  make  Gardiner's  conversion 
more  supernatural,  for  he  says  that  his  appointment  was  at 
midnight,  and  introduces  some  sort  of  meteor  or  blaze  of 
light,  that  alarmed  the  new  convert.*  But  this  was  not  the 
case  ;  for  I  have  heard  Gardiner  tell  the  story  at  least  three 
or  four  times,  to  different  sets  of  people,  —  for  he  was  not 
shy  or  backward  to  speak  on  the  subject,  as  many  would 
have  been.  But  it  was  at  midday,  for  the  appointment  was 
at  one  o'clock  ;  and  he  told  us  the  reason  of  it,  which  was 
that  the  surgeon,  or  apothecary,  had  shown  some  symptoms 
of  jealousy,  and  they  chose  a  time  of  day  when  he  was 
necessarily  employed  abroad  in  his  business. 

I  have  also  conversed  with  my  father  upon  it,  after  Dod- 
dridge's  book  was  published,  who  always  persisted  in  saying 

*  "  He  thought  he  saw  an  unusual  blaze  of  light  fall  on  the  book  while 
he  was  reading,  which  ha  at  first  imagined  might  happen  by  some  accident 
in  the  candle.  But  lifting  up  his  eyes,  he  apprehended,  to  his  extreme 
amazement,  that  there  was  before  him,  as  it  were  suspended  in  the  air,  a 
visible  representation  of  the  Lord  JESUS  CHRIST  upon  the  Cross,  surrounded 
on  all  sides  with  a  glory;  and  was  impressed  as  if  a  voice,  or  something 
equivalent  to  a  voice,  had  come  to  him,  to  this  effect  (for  he  was  not  confi 
dent  as  to  the  very  words),  '  0  sinner!  did  I  suffer  this  for  thee,  and  are 
these  the  returns  ? '  But  whether  this  were  an  audible  voice,  or  only  a 
strong  impression  on  his  mind  equally  striking,  he  did  not  seem  very  confi 
dent;  though,  to  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  he  rather  judged  it  to  be  the 
former."  —  DODDIUDGK'S  Remarkable  Passages  in  the  Life  of  Colonel  Gardi 
ner,  §  32. 


16        COLONEL  GARDINER  AND  DODDRIDGE. 

that  the  appointment  was  at  one  o'clock,  for  the  reason  men 
tioned,  and  that  Gardiner  having  changed  his  lodging,  he 
founfl  a  book  when  rummaging  an  old  trunk  to  the  bottom, 
which  my  father  said  was  Gurnall's  Christian  Armor,  but 
to  which  Doddridge  gives  the  name  of  The  Christian  Soldier  ; 
or,  Heaven  Taken  by  Storm,  by  Thomas  Watson.*  Dod 
dridge,  in  a  note,  says  that  his  edition  of  the  story  was  con 
firmed  in  a  letter  from  a  Rev.  Mr.  Spears,  in  which  there 
was  not  the  least  difference  from  the  account  he  had  taken 
down  in  writing  the  very  night  in  which  the  Colonel  had 
told  him  the  story.  This  Mr.  Spears  had  been  Lord 
Grange's  chaplain,  and  I  knew  him  to  have  no  great 
regard  to  truth,  when  deviating  from  it  suited  his  purpose ; 
at  any  rate,  he  was  not  a  man  to  contradict  Doddridge, 
who  had  most  likely  told  him  his  story.  It  is  remarkable 
that,  though  the  doctor  had  written  down  everything  exactly, 
and  could  take  his  oath,  yet  he  had  omitted  to  mark  the  day 
of  the  week  on  which  the  conversion  happened,  but,  if 
not  mistaken,  thinks  it  was  Sabbath.  This  aggravates  the 
sin  of  the  appointment,  and  hallows  the  conversion. 


*  "The  Christian  in  Complete  Armor;  or,  A  Treatise  on  the  Saints'  War 
with  the  Devil:  wherein  a  discovery  is  made  of  the  policy,  power,  wicked 
ness,  and  stratagems  made  use  of  by  that  enemy  of  God  and  his  people;  a 
magazine  opened  from  whence  the  Christian  is  furnished  with  special  arms 
for  the  battle,  assisted  in  buckling  on  his  armor,  and  taught  the  use  of  his 
weapons,  —  together  with  the  happy  issue  of  the  whole  war.  —  By  WILLIAM 
GURNALL,  A.  M.,  formerly  of  Lavenham,  Suffolk.  1656-62."  Three  vol 
umes  quarto.  The  Christian  Soldier;  or,  Heaven  Taken  by  Storm,  one  of 
many  works  written  by  Thomas  Watson,  one  of  the  non-juring  clergy 
driven  out  by  the  Act  of  Conformity,  appears  to  be  very  rare ;  it  is  not  in 
the  list  of  its  author's  works  in  Watt's  Bibliotheca.  Doddridge,  before  he 
wrote  his  well-known  Remarkable  Passages,  had  preached  and  published  a 
funeral  sermon  on  Colonel  Gardiner,  which  he  called  The  Christian  Warrior 
Animated  and  Crowned,  —  an  evident  assimilation  to  the  title  of  Watson's 
book.  —  ED. 


NEIGHBORS.  17 

The  Colonel,  who  was  truly  an  honest,  well-meaning  man 
and  a  pious  Christian,  was  very  ostentatious  ;  though,  to  tell 
the  truth,  he  boasted  oftener  of  his  conversion  than  of  the 
dangerous  battles  he  had  been  in.  As  he  told  the  story, 
however,  there  was  nothing  supernatural  in  it ;  for  many  a 
rake  of  about  thirty  years  of  age  has  been  reclaimed  by 
some  circumstance  that  set  him  a  thinking,  as  the  accidental 
reading  of  this  book  had  done  to  Gardiner.  He  was  a  very 
skilful  horseman,  which  had  recommended  him  to  Lord  Stair 
as  a  suitable  part  of  his  train  when  he  _was  ambassador 
at  Paris,  and  lived  in  great  splendor.  Gardiner  married 
Lady  Frances  Erskine,  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  Earl  of 
Buchan,  a  lively,  little,  deformed  woman,  very  religious,  and 
a  great  breeder.  Their  children  were  no  way  distinguished, 
except  the  eldest  daughter,  Fanny,  who  was  very  beautiful, 
and  became  the  wife  of  Sir  James  Baird. 

Lord  Drummore,  one  of  the  Judges,  was  a  second  or  third 
son  of  the  President  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple,  of  North  Berwick, 
a  man  very  popular  and  agreeable  in  his  manners,  and  an 
universal  favorite !  He  was  a  great  friend  of  the  poor,  not 
merely  by  giving  alms,  in  which  he  was  not  slack,  but  by 
encouraging  agriculture  and  manufactures,  and  by  devoting 
his  spare  time  in  acting  as  a  justice  of  peace  in  the  two 
parishes  of  Inveresk  and  Prestonpans,  where  his  estate  lay, 
and  did  much  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  neighborhood,  and 
to  promote  the  peace  of  the  country.  It  were  happy  for 
the  country,  if  every  man  of  as  much  knowledge  and  authority 
as  the  judges  are  supposed  to  have,  would  lay  himself  out 
as  this  good  man  did.  By  doing  so  they  might  prevent  many 
a  lawsuit  that  ends  in  the  ruin  of  the  parties.  Lord  Drum- 
more  had  many  children. 

Mr.  Robert  Keith  of  Craig,  who  was  afterwards  ambas 
sador  at  many  courts,  and  who  was  a  man  of  ability  and 

B 


18  THE  FIRST  TOUR. 

very  agreeable  manners,  came  also  about  this  time  to  live 
in  the  parish.  His  sons,  Sir  Robert  Murray  Keith,  K.  B., 
and  Sir  Basil  Keith,  were  afterwards  well  known.* 

There  lived  at  the  same  time  there  Colin  Campbell,  Esq., 
a  brother  of  Sir  James,  of  Arbruchal,  who  was  Collector  of 
the  Customs ;  and  when  he  was  appointed  a  Commissioner 
of  the  Board  of  Customs,  George  Cheap,  Esq.,  became  his 
successor,  a  brother  of  the  Laird  of  Rossie,  all  of  whom  had 
large  families  of  seven  or  eight  boys  and  girls,  which  made 
up  a  society  of  genteel  'young  people  seldom  to  be  met  with 
in  such  a  place. 

When  I  was  very  young,  I  usually  passed  the  school  va 
cation,  first  at  Mr.  Menzies',  of  St.  Germain s,  and  afterwards 
at  Seton  House,  when  the  family  came  to  live  there  upon 
the  sale  of  their  estate.  I  was  very  often  there,  as  I  was  a 
great  favorite  of  the  lady's,  one  of  the  Sinclairs  of  Stevenson, 
and  of  her  two  daughters,  who  were  two  or  three  years  older 
than  I  was.  These  excursions  from  home  opened  the  mind 
of  a  young  person,  who  had  some  turn  for  observation. 

The  first  journey  I  made,  however,  was  to  Dumfriesshire, 
in  the  summer  1733,  when  I  was  eleven  years  of  age.  There 
I  not  only  became  well  acquainted  with  my  grandfather,  Mr. 
A.  Robison  [minister  of  Tinwald],  a  very  respectable  clergy 
man,  and  with  my  grandmother,  Mrs.  Jean  Graham,  and 
their  then  unmarried  daughters ;  but  I  became  well  ac 
quainted  with  the  town  of  Dumfries,  where  I  resided  for 

#  Abundant  information  about  this  family  will  be  found  in  the  Memoirs 
and  Correspondence  of  Sir  Robert  Murray  Keith,  1849.  The  elder  Keith  was 
ambassador  at  Vienna,  and  subsequently  at  St.  Petersburg,  during  the  revo 
lution  which  placed  the  Empress  Catherine  on  the  throne.  His  wife  was 
the  prototype  of  Scott's  sketch  of  Mrs.  Bethune  Baliol.  The  son,  Sir  Rob 
ert,  was  the  ambassador  in  Denmark  who  saved  Queen  Caroline  Matilda, 
George  III.'s  sister,  from  the  fate  to  which  she  was  destined  on  account  of 
the  affair  of  Struensee.  —  ED. 


THE  FIRST  TOUR.  19 

several  weeks  at  Provost  Bell's,  whose  wife  was  one  of  my 
mother's  sisters,  two  more  of  whom  were  settled  in  that 
town,  —  one  of  them,  the  wife  of  the  clergyman,  Mr.  Wight, 
and  the  other  of  the  sheriff-clerk.  I  was  soon  very  intimate 
with  a  few  boys  of  this  town  about  my  own  age,  and  became 
a  favorite  by  teaching  them  some  of  our  sports  and  plays  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  capital,  that  they  had  never  heard.* 

*  On  this  journey  it  was  that  I  first  witnessed  an  execution.  There  was 
one  Jock  Johnstone  who  had  been  condemned  for  robbery,  and,  being  acces 
sory  to  a  murder,  to  be  execiited  at  Dumfries.  This  fellow  was  but  twenty 
years  of  age,  but  strong  and  bold,  and  a  great  ringleader.  It  was  strongly 
reported  that  the  thieves  were  collecting  in  all  quarters,  in  order  to  come  to 
Dumfries  on  the  day  of  the  execution,  and  make  a  deforcement  as  they 
were  conducting  Jock  to  the  gallows,  which  was  usually  erected  on  a  muir 
out  of  town.  The  magistrates  became  anxious ;  and  there  being  no  mili 
tary  force  nearer  than  Edinburgh,  they  resolved  to  erect  the  gallows  before 
the  door  of  the  prison,  with  a  scaffold  or  platform  leading  from  the  door  to 
the  fatal  tree,  and  they  armed  about  one  hundred  of  their  stoutest  burgesses 
with  Lochaber  axes  to  form  a  guard  round  the  scaffold.  The  day  and  hour 
of  execution  came,  and  I  was  placed  in  the  window  of  the  provost's  house  ' 
directly  opposite  the  prison:  the  crowd  was  great,  and  the  preparations 
alarming  to  a  young  imagination :  at  last  the  prison  door  opened,  and  Jock 
appeared,  enclosed  by  six  town-officers.  When  he  first  issued  from  the 
door,  he  looked  a  little  astonished ;  but  looking  round  awhile,  he  proceeded 
with  a  bold  step.  Psalms  and  prayers  being  over,  the  rope  was  fastened 
about  his  neck,  and  he  was  prompted  to  ascend  a  short  ladder  fastened  to 
the  gallows,  to  be  thrown  off.  Here  his  resistance  and  my  terror  began. 
Jock  was  curly-haired  and  fierce-looking,  and  very  strong  of  his  size,  — 
about  five  feet  eight  inches.  The  moment  they  asked  him  to  go  up  the 
ladder,  he  took  hold  of  the  rope  round  his  neck,  which  was  fastened  to 
the  gallows,  and,  with  repeated  violent  pulls,  attempted  to  pull  it  down; 
and  his  efforts  were  so  strong  that  it  was  feared  he  would  have  succeeded. 
The  crowd,  in  the  mean  time,  felt  much  emotion,  and  the  fear  of  the  magis 
trates  increased.  I  wished  myself  on  the  top  of  Criffel,  or  anywhere  but 
there.  But  the  attempt  to  go  through  the  crowd  appeared  more  dangerous 
than  to  stay  where  I  was,  out  of  sight  of  the  gallows.  I  returned  to  my  sta 
tion  again,  resolving  manfully  to  abide  the  worst  extremity. 

Jock  struggled  and  roared,  for  he  became  like  a  furious  wild  beast,  and 
all  that  six  men  could  do,  they  could  not  bind  him ;  and  having  with  wres- 


20  TOUR  ON  THE  BORDER. 

At  this  time,  too,  I  made  a  very  agreeable  tour  round  the 
country  with  my  father  and  Mr.  Robert  Jardine  [minister  of 
Lochmaben],  the  father  of  Dr.  Jardine,  afterwards  minister 
of  Edinburgh.  Though  they  were  very  orthodox  and  pious 
clergymen,  they  had  both  of  them  a  very  great  turn  for  fun 
and  buffoonery  ;  and  wherever  they  went,  made  all  the  chil 
dren  quite  happy,  and  set  all  the  maids  on  the  titter.  That 
they  might  not  want  amusement,  they  took  along  with  them, 
for  the  first  two  days,  a  Mess  John  Allan,  a  minister  who 
lay  in  their  route,  with  whom  they  could  use  every  sort  of 
freedom,  and  who  was  their  constant  butt.  As  he  had  no 
resistance  in  him,  and  could  only  laugh  when  they  rallied 
him,  or  played  him  boyish  tricks,  I  thought  it  but  very 
dull  entertainment.  Nor  did  I  much  approve  of  their  turn 
ing  the  backsides  of  their  wigs  foremost,  and  making  faces 
to  divert  the  children,  in  the  midst  of  very  grave  discourse 
about  the  state  of  religion  in  the  country,  and  the  progress 
of  the  Gospel.  Among  the  places  we  visited  was  Bridekirk, 
the  seat  of  the  eldest  cadet  of  Lord  Carlyle's  family,  of  which 
my  father  was  descended.  I  saw  likewise  a  small  pendicle 


tling  hard  forced  up  the  pinions  on  his  arms,  they  were  afraid,  and  he  be 
came  more  formidable ;  when  one  of  the  magistrates,  recollecting  that  there 
was  a  master-mason  or  carpenter,  of  the  name  of  Baxter,  who  was  by  far 
the  strongest  man  in  Dumfries,  they  with  difficulty  prevailed  with  him,  for 
the  honor  of  the  town,  to  come  on  the  scaffold.  He  came,  and,  putting 
aside  the  six  men  who  were  keeping  him  down,  he  seized  him,  and  made  no 
more  difficulty  than  a  nurse  does  in  handling  her  child:  he  bound  him  hand 
and  foot  in  a  few  minutes,  and  laid  him  quietly  down  on  his  face  near  the 
edge  of  the  scaffold,  and  retired.  Jock,  the  moment  he  felt  his  grasp,  found 
himself  subdued,  and  became  calm,  and  resigned  himself  to  his  fate.  This 
dreadful  scene  cost  me  many  nights'  sleep. 

[N.  B.  —  The  greater  portion  of  this  narrative  is  taken  from  the  "  Recol 
lections,"  where  it  is  more  fully,  and,  as  it  seemed  to  the  Editor,  more 
picturesquely  told,  than  in  the  note  appended  by  the  author  to  his  Auto 
biography.] 


TOUR   ON  THE  BORDER.  21 

of  the  estate  which  had  been  assigned  as  the  portion  of  his 
grandfather,  and  which  he  himself  had  tried  to  recover  by 
a  lawsuit,  but  was  defeated  for  want  of  a  principal  paper. 
We  did  not  see  the  laird,  who  was  from  home ;  but  we  saw 
the  lady,  who  was  a  much  greater  curiosity.  She  was  a  very 
large  and  powerful  virago,  about  forty  years  of  age,  and 
received  us  with  much  kindness  and"  hospitality;  for  the 
brandy -bottle  —  a  Scotch  pint  —  made  its  appearance  imme 
diately,  and  we  were  obliged  to  take  our  morning,  as  they 
called  it,  which  was  indeed  the  universal  fashion  of  the 
country  at  that  time.  This  lady,  who,  I  confess,  had  not 
many  charms  for  me,  was  said  to  be  able  to  empty  one  of 
those  large  bottles  of  brandy,  smuggled  from  the  Isle  of  Man, 
at  a  sitting.  They  had  no  whiskey  at  that  time,  there  being 
then  no  distilleries  in  the  south  of  Scotland.* 

The  face    of   the   country  was  particularly  desolate,   not 


*  This  interview  is  thus  related  in  the  "  Recollections:  "  — 
"The  laird  was  gone  to  Dumfries,  much  to  our  disappointment;  but  the 
lady  came  out,  and,  in  her  excess  of  kindness,  had  almost  pulled  Mr.  Jar- 
dine  off  his  horse;  but  they  were  obstinate,  and  said  they  were  obliged  to 
go  to  Kelhead ;  but  they  delivered  up  Mess  John  Allan  to  her,  as  they  had 
no  further  use  for  him.  I  had  never  seen  such  a  virago  as  Lady  Bridekirk, 
not  even  among  the  oyster- women  of  Prestonpans.  She  was  like  a  sergeant 
of  foot  in  women's  clothes;  or  rather  like  an  overgrown  coachman  of  a 
Quaker  persuasion.  On  our  peremptory  refusal  to  alight,  she  darted  into 
the  house  like  a  hogshead  down  a  slope,  and  returned  instantly  with  a  pint 
bottle  of  brandy  —  a  Scots  pint,  I  mean  —  and  a  stray  beer-glass,  into  which 
she  filled  almost  a  bumper.  After  a  long  grace  said  by  Mr.  Jardine  —  for  it 
was  hrs  turn  now,  being  the  thii'd  brandy-bottle  we  had  seen  since  we  left 
Lochmaben  —  she  emptied  it  to  our  healths,  and  made  the  gentlemen  follow 
her  example :  she  said  she  would  spare  me  as  I  was  so  young,  but  ordered 
a  maid  to  bring  a  gingerbread  cake  from  the  cupboard,  a  luncheon  of  which 
she  put  in  my  pocket.  This  lady  was  famous,  even  in  the  Annandale  bor 
der,  both  at  the  bowl  and  in  battle:  she  could  drink  a  Scots  pint  of  brandy 
with  ease;  and  when  the  men  grew  obstreperous  in  their  cups,  she  could 
either  put  them  out  of  doors,  or  to  bed,  as  she  found  most  convenient." 


22  TOUR   ON  THE  BORDER. 

having  yet  reaped  any  benefit  from  the  union  of  the  Parlia 
ments  ;  nor  was  it  recovered  from  the  effects  of  that  century 
of  wretched  government  which  preceded  the  Revolution,  and 
commenced  at  the  accession  of  James.  The  Border  wars 
and  depredations  had  happily  ceased ;  but  the  borderers, 
having  lost  what  excited  their  activity,  were  in  a  dormant 
state  during  the  whole  of  the  seventeenth  century,  unless  it 
was  during  the  time  of  the  grand  Rebellion,  and  the  struggles 
between  Episcopacy  and  Presbytery. 

On  this  excursion  we  dined  with  Sir  William  Douglas, 
of  Kelhead,  whose  grandfather  was  a  son  of  the  family  of 
Queensberry.  When  he  met  us  in  his  stable-yard,  I  took 
him  for  a  grieve  or  barnman,  for  he  wore  a  blue  bonnet 
over  his  thin  gray  hairs,  and  a  hodden-gray  coat.  But  on 
a  nearer  view  of  him,  he  appeared  to  be  well-bred  and 
sensible,  and  was  particularly  kind  to  my  father,  who,  I 
understood,  had  been  his  godson,  having  been  born  in  the 
neighborhood  on  a  farm  his  father  rented  from  Sir  William. 
My  father's  mother,  who  was  Jean  Jardine,  a  daughter  of 
the  family  of  Applegarth,  had  died  a  week  after  his  birth, 
in  1G90.  His  father  lived  till  1721. 

In  the  evening  we  went  to  visit  an  old  gentleman,  a 
cousin  of  my  father's,  James  Carlyle  of  Brakenwhate,  who 
had  been  an  officer  in  James  II.'s  time,  and  threw  up  his 
commission  at  the  Revolution  rather  than  take  the  oaths.  He 
was  a  little,  fresh-looking  old  man  of  eighty-six,  very  lively 
in  conversation,  and  particularly  fond  of  my  father.  His 
house,  which  was  not  much  better  than  a  cottage,  though 
there  were  two  rooms  above  stairs  as  well  as  below,  was  full 
of  guns  and  swords,  and  other  warlike  instruments.  He  had 
been  so  dissolute  in  his  youth  that  his  nickname  in  the 
country  was  Jamie  Gaeloose.  His  wife,  who  appeared  to  be 
older  than  himself,  though  she  was  seven  years  younger,  was 


TOUR   ON  THE  BORDER.  23 

of  a  very  hospitable  disposition.  This  small  house  being 
easily  filled,  I  went  to  bed  in  the  parlor  while  the  company 
were  at  supper.  But,  tired  as  I  was,  it  was  long  before  I 
fell  asleep ;  for  as  my  father  had  told  me  that  I  was  to  sleep 
with  my  cousin,  I  was  in  great  fear  that  it  would  be  the  old 
woman.  Weariness  overcame  my  fear,  however,  and  I  did 
not  awake  till  the  tea-things  were  on  the  table,  and  did  not 
know  that  it  was  the  old  gentleman  who  slept  with  me  till 
rny  father  afterwards  told  me,  which  relieved  me  from  my 
anxious  curiosity.  After  breakfast  our  old  friend  would  needs 
give  us  a  convoy,  and  mounted  his  horse  —  a  gray  stallion 
of  about  fourteen  and  a  half  hands  high  —  as  nimbly  as  if  he 
aad  been  only  thirty.  Not  long  after  he  separated  from  us, 
I  took  an  opportunity  of  asking  my  father  what  had  been  the 
subject  of  a  very  earnest  conversation  he  had  had  the  even 
ing  before,  when  they  were  walking  in  the  garden.  He 
told  me  that  his  cousin  had  pressed  him  very  much  to  accept 
of  his  estate,  which  he  would  dispose  to  him,  as  his  only 
surviving  daughter  had  distressed  him  by  her  marriage,  and 
he  had  no  liking  to  her  children.  My  father  had  rejected  his 
proposal,  and  taken  much  pains  to  convince  the  old  gentleman 
of  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  his  procedure,  which  had  made 
him  loud  and  angry,  arid  had  drawn  my  curious  attention. 
He  died  three  years  after,  without  a  will,  and  the  little  estate 
was  soon  drowned  in  debt  and  absorbed  into  the  great  one, 
which  made  my  father  say  afterwards  that  he  believed  he 
had  been  righteous  overmuch. 

This  was  the  first  opportunity  I  had  of  being  well  ac 
quainted  with  my  grandfather,  Mr.  Alexander  Robison,  who 
was  a  man  very  much  respected  for  his  good  sense  and 
steadiness,  and  moderation  in  church  courts.  He  had  been 
minister  at  Tinwald  since  the  year  1 697,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  commission  which  sat  during  the  Union  Parliament. 


24  TOUR   ON  THE  BORDER. 

He  was  truly  a  man  of  a  sound  head,  and  in  the  midst  of 
very  warm  times  was  resorted  to  by  his  neighbors,  both  laity 
and  clergy,  for  temperate  and  sound  advice.  He  lived  to 
the  year  1761,  and  I  passed  several  summers  and  one  winter 
entirely  at  his  house,  when  I  was  a  student.  He  had  a  toler 
ably  good  collection  of  books,  was  a  man  of  a  liberal  mind, 
and  had  more  allowance  to  give  to  people  of  different  opin 
ions,  and  more  indulgence  to  the  levities  of  youth,  than  any 
man  I  ever  knew  of  such  strict  principles  and  conduct.  His 
wife,  Jean  Graham,  connected  with  many  of  the  principal 
families  in  Galloway,  and  descended  by  her  mother  from  the 
Queensberry  family  (as  my  father  was,  at  a  greater  distance 
by  his  mother,  of  the  Jardine  Hall  family),  gave  the  worthy 
people  and  their  children  an  air  of  greater  consequence  than 
their  neighbors  of  the  same  rank,  and  tended  to  make  them 
deserve  the  respect  which  was  shown  them.  When  I  look 
back  on  the  fulness  of  very  good  living  to  their  numerous 
family,  and  to  their  cheerful  hospitality  to  strangers,  —  when 
I  recollect  the  decent  education  they  gave  their  children, 
and  how  happily  the  daughters  were  settled  in  the  world  ; 
and  recollect  that  they  had  not  £  70  per  annum  besides  the 
£500  which  was  my  grandmother's  portion,  £100  of  which 
was  remaining  for  the  three  eldest  daughters  as  they  were 
married  off  in  their  turns,  it  appears  quite  surprising  how  it 
was  possible  for  them  to  live  as  they  did,  and  keep  their 
credit.  What  I  have  seen,  both  'at  their  house  and  my 
father's,  on  their  slender  incomes,  surpasses  all  belief.  But 
it  was  wonderful  what  moderation  and  a  strict  economy  was 
able  to  do  in  those  days. 

In  my  infancy  I  had  witnessed  the  greatest  trial  they 
had  ever  gone  through.  Their  eldest  son,  a  youth  of  eighteen, 
who  had  studied  at  Glasgow  College,  but  was  to  go  to  the 
Divinity  Hall  at  Edinburgh  in  winter  1724,  to  be  near  my 


EDINBURGH  COLLEGE.  25 

father,  then  removed  to  Prestonpar^  went  to  Dumfries  to 
bid  farewell  to  his  second  sister,  Mrs.  Bell,  and  left  the  town 
in  a  clear  frosty  night  in  the  beginning  of  December,  but, 
having  missed  the  road  about  a  mile  from  Dumfries,  fell 
into  a  peat-pot,  as  it  is  called,  and  was  drowned.  He  was 
impatiently  expected  at  night,  and  next  morning.  My 
brother  and  I  had  got  some  half-pence  to  give  him  to 
purchase  some  sugar-plums  for  us,  so  that  we  were  not 
the  least  impatient  of  the  family.  What  was  our  disappoint 
ment,  when,  about  eleven  o'clock,  information  came  that  he 
had  been  drowned  and  our  comfits  lost.  This  I  mention 
merely  to  note  at  what  an  early  age  interesting  events  make 
an  impression  on  children's  memories  ;  for  I  was  then  only 
two  years  and  ten  months  old,  and  to  this  day  I  remember 
it  as  well  as  any  event  of  my  life.* 

Two  years  after  this  journey  into  my  native  country, 
which  had  the  effect  of  attaching  me  very  much  to  my  grand 
father  and  his  family,  and  gave  him  a  great  ascendant  over 
my  mind,  I  was  sent  to  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  which  I 


*  Here  it  may  not  be  improper  to  relate  an  extraordinary  incident  to 
show  how  soon  boys  are  capable  of  deep  imposture.  There  was  a  boy  at 
school  in  the  same  class  with  me  whose  name  was  Mathie.  He  was  very 
intimate  with  me,  and  was  between  eleven  and  twelve  years  old,  when  all 
at  once  he  produced  more  money  than  anybody,  though  his  mother  was 
an  indigent  widow  of  a  shipmaster,  and  continued  only  to  deal  in  hoops 
and  staves  for  the  support  of  her  family.  This  boy  having  at  different 
times  showed  more  money  than  I  thought  he  had  any  right  to  have,  I 
pressed  him  very  close  to  tell  me  how  he  had  got  it.  After  many  shifts, 
he  at  last  told  me  that  his  grandfather  had  appeared  to  him  in  an  evening, 
and  disclosed  a  hidden  treasure  in  the  garret  of  his  mother's  house,  between 
the  floor  and  the  ceiling.  He  pretended  to  show  me  the  spot,  but  would 
never  open  it  to  me.  He  made  several  appointments  with  me,  which  I  kept, 
to  meet  the  old  gentleman,  but  he  never  appeared.  I  tried  every  method  to 
make  him  confess  his  imposture,,  but  without  effect.  After  some  time,  I 
heard  that  he  had  robbed  his  mother's  drawers. 
2 


26  DR.   WITHEKSPOON.  —  SIR  J.  DALEYMPLE. 

entered  on  the  1st  of.  November,  1735.*  I  had  the  good 
luck  to  be  placed  in  a  house  in  Edinburgh  where  there  was 
very  good  company;  for  John,  afterwards  Colonel  Maxwell, 
and  his  brother  Alexander,  were  boarded  there,  whose  tutor, 
being  an  acquaintance  of  my  father's,  took  some  charge  of 
me.  John  Witherspoon,  the  celebrated  doctor,  was  also  in 
the  house  ;  and  Sir  Harry  Nisbet  of  Dean,  and  John  Dal- 
rymple,  now  Sir  John  of  Cranstoun,  not  being  able  to  afford 
tutors  of  their  own,  and  being  near  relations  of  the  Max 
wells,  came  every  afternoon  to  prepare  their  lessons  under 
the  care  of  our  tutor. 

The  future  life  and  public  character  of  Dr.  Witherspoon 
are  perfectly  known.  At  the  time  I  speak  of  he  was  a  good 
scholar,  far  advanced  for  his  age,  very  sensible  and  shrewd, 
but  of  a  disagreeable  temper,  which  was  irritated  by  a  flat 
voice  and  awkward  manner,  which  prevented  his  making  an 
impression  on  his  companions  of  either  sex  that  was  at  all 
adequate  to  his  ability.  This  defect,  when  he  was  a  lad, 
stuck  to  him  when  he  grew  up  to  manhood,  and  so  much 
roused  his  envy  and  jealousy,  and  made  him  take  a  road  to 
distinction  very  different  from  that  of  his  more  successful 
companions. f 

John  Maxwell  was  remarkably  tall  and  well  made,  and 
one  of  the  handsomest  youths  of  his  time,  but  of  such 
gentle  manners  and  so  soft  a  temper  that  nobody  could 
then  foresee  that  he  was  to  prove  one  of  the  bravest  offi- 


*  We  had  a  very  good  master  at  Prestonpans,  an  Alexander  Hannan,  an 
old  fellow-student  of  my  father's,  whom  he  brought  there,  and  who  impli 
citly  followed  his  directions.  He  possessed  excellent  translations  of  the 
classics. 

f  Though  Witherspoon  is  now  little  remembered,  an  account  of  his 
rather  remarkable  career  will  be  found  in  the  ordinary  biographical  dic 
tionaries.  —  ED. 


PROFESSOK  AND   CLASS-FELLOWS.  27 

cers  in  the  allied  army  under  Prince  Ferdinand  in  the  year 
1759. 

Sir  Harry  Nisbet  was  a  very  amiable  youth,  who  took 
also  to  the  army,  was  a  distinguished  officer  and  remarkably 
handsome,  but  fell  at  an  early  age  in  the  battle  of  Val  [?] 

The  character  of  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  whom  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  mention  afterwards,  is  perfectly  known;  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  here  that  the  blossom  promised  better 
fruit.* 

I  was  entered  in  Mr.  Kerr's  class,  who  was  at  that  time 
Professor  of  Humanity,  and  was  very  much  master  of  his 
business.  Like  other  schoolmasters,  he  was  very  partial  to 
his  scholars  of  rank,  and  having  two  lords  at  his  class, — 
viz.  Lord  Balgonie  and  Lord  Dalziel,  —  he  took  great  pains 
to  make  them  (especially  the  first,  for  the  second  was 
hardly  ostensible)  appear  among  the  best  scholars,  which 
would  not  do,  and  only  served  to  make  him  ridiculous, 
as  well  as  his  young  lord.  The  best  by  far  at  the  class 
were  Colonel  Robert  Hepburn  of  Keith ;  James  Edgar, 
Esq.,  afterwards  a  Commissioner  of  the  Customs  ;f  Alex 
ander  Tait,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  Session ;  and  Alexander  Bertram, 
of  the  Nisbet  family,  who  died  young.  William  Wilkie  the 
poet  and  I  came  next  in  order,  and  he  (Mr.  Kerr)  used 
to  allege  long  after  that  we  turned  Latin  into  English  better 
than  they  did,  though  we  could  not  so  well  turn  English 
into  Latin  ;  which  was  probably  owing  to  their  being  taught 
better  at  the  High  School  than  we  were  in  the  country.  I 
mention  those  circumstances  because  those  gentlemen  con- 

*  The  author  of  the  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  in  which  so 
much  light  is  thrown  on  the  history  of  the  later  Stewarts  and  the  Revolu 
tion  period.  —  ED. 

f  An  account  of  "Commissioner  Edgar"  vrill  be  found  in  Kay's  Edin 
burgh  Portraits.  —  ED. 


28  PROFESSOR  AND  CLASS-FELLOWS. 

tinued  to  keep  the  same  rank  in  society  when  they  grew 
up  that  they  held  when  they  were  boys.  I  was  sent  next 
year  to  the  first  class  of  mathematics,  taught  by  Mr.  M'Lau- 
rin,  which  cost  me  little  trouble,  as  my  father  had  carried 
me  through  the  first  book  of  Euclid  in  the  summer.  In  this 
branch  I  gained  an  ascendant  over  our  tutor,  Pat.  Baillie, 
afterwards  minister  of  Borrowstounness,  which  he  took  care 
never  to  forget.  He  was  a  very  good  Latin  scholar,  and 
so  expert  in  the  Greek  that  he  taught  Professor  Drummond's 
class  for  a  whole  winter  when  he  was  ill.  But  he  had  no 
mathematics,  nor  much  science  of  any  kind.  One  night, 
when  I  was  conning  my  Latin  lesson  in  the  room  with  him 
and  his  pupils,  he  was  going  over  a  proposition  of  Euclid 
with  John  Maxwell,  who  had  hitherto  got  no  hold  of  the 
science.  He  blundered  so  excessively  in  doing  this  that  I 
could  not  help  laughing  aloud.  He  was  enraged  at  first, 
but,  when  calm,  he  bid  me  try  if  I  could  do  it  better.  I 
went  through  the  proposition  so  readily  that  he  committed 
John  to  my  care  in  that  branch,  which  he  was  so  good- 
natured  as  not  to  take  amiss,  though  he  was  a  year  older 
than  I  was.  At  the  end  of  a  week  he  fell  into  the  proper 
train  of  thinking,  and  needed  assistance  no  longer.  Mr. 
M'Laurin  was  at  this  time  a  favorite  professor,  and  no 
wonder,  as  he  was  the  clearest  and  most  agreeable  lecturer 
on  that  abstract  science  that  ever  I  heard.  He  made 
mathematics  a  fashionable  study,  which  was  felt  afterwards 
in  the  war  that  followed  in  1743,  when  nine  tenths  of  the 
engineers  of  the  army  were  Scottish  officers.  The  Academy 
at  Woolwich  was  not  then  established. 


CHAPTER    II. 

1736-43:  AGE,   14-21. 

EVENTS  OF  THE  PORTEOUS  MOB.  —  SEES  THE  ESCAPE  OF  ROBERTSON 
FROM  CHURCH.  —  PRESENT  AT  THE  EXECUTION  OF  WILSON,  AND 
PORTEOUS  FIRING  ON  THE  PEOPLE.  —  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  MOB.  — 
UNIVERSITY  STUDIES.  —  LOGIC.  —  RISE  OF  THE  MEDICAL  SCHOOL.  — 
ANECDOTES  AND  ADVENTURES.  —  REMINISCENCES  OF  FELLOW-STU 
DENTS.  —  SIR  JOHN  PRINGLE.  —  FIRST  ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  ROBERT 
SON  THE  HISTORIAN  AND  JOHN  HOME  THE  DRAMATIST.  —  ACHIEVE 
MENTS  IN  DANCING.  —  RUDDTMAN  THE  GRAMMARIAN.  —  LOOKING 
ABOUT  FOR  A  PROFESSION. — MEDICINE.  —  THE  ARMY.  —  THE  CHURCH. 
—  AN  EVENING'S  ADVENTURES  WITH  LORD  LOVAT  AND  ERSKINE  OF 
GRANGE.  —  ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  STUDYING  IN  GLASGOW.  —  CLERICAL 
CONVIVIALITIES.  —  LAST  SESSION  AT  EDINBURGH. 

I  WAS  witness  to  a  very  extraordinary  scene  that  hap 
pened  in  the  month  of  February  or  March,  1736,  which  was 
the  escape  of  Robertson,  a  condemned  criminal,  from  the 
Tolbooth  Church  in  Edinburgh.  In  those  days  it  was  usual 
to  bring  the  criminals  who  were  condemned  to  death  into 
that  church,  to  attend  public  worship  every  Sunday  after 
their  condemnation,  when  the  clergyman  made  some  part 
of  his  discourse  and  prayers  to  suit  their  situation ;  which, 
among  other  circumstances  of  solemnity  which  then  attended 
the  state  of  condemned  criminals,  had  no  small  effect  on  the 
public  mind.  Robertson  and  "Wilson  were  smugglers,  and 
had  been  condemned  for  robbing  a  custom-house,  where  some 
of  their  goods  had  been  deposited ;  a  crime  which  at  that 
time  did  not  seem,  in  the  opinion  of  the  common  people,  to 
deserve  so  severe  a  punishment.  I  was  carried  by  an  ac- 


30  THE  POETEOUS  MOB. 

quaintance  to  church  to  see  the  prisoners  on  the  Sunday 
before  the  day  of  execution.  We  went  early  into  the 
church  on  purpose  to  see  them  come  in,  and  were  seated  in  a 
pew  before  the  gallery  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  Soon  after 
we  went  into  the  church  by  the  door  from  the  Parliament 
Close,  the  criminals  were  brought  in  by  the  doof  next  the 
Tolbooth,  and  placed  in  a  long  pew,  not  far  from  the  pulpit. 
Four  soldiers  came  in  with  them,  and  placed  Robertson 
at  the  head  of  the  pew,  and  Wilson  below  him,  two  of  them 
selves  sitting  below  Wilson,  and  two  in  a  pew  behind  him. 
The  bells  were  ringing  and  the  doors  were  open,  while 
the  people  were  coming  into  the  church.  Robertson  watched 
his  opportunity,  and,  suddenly  springing  up,  got  over  the 
pew  into  the  passage  that  led  in  to  the  door  in  the  Parlia 
ment  Close,  and,  no  person  offering  to  lay  hands  on  him, 
made  his  escape  in  a  moment,  —  so  much  the  more  easily, 
perhaps,  as  everybody's  attention  was  drawn  to  Wilson,  who 
was  a  stronger  man,  and  who,  attempting  to  follow  Robert 
son,  was  seized  by  the  soldiers,  and  struggled  so  long  with 
them  that  the  two  who  at  last  followed  Robertson  were  too 
late.  It  was  reported  that  he  had  maintained  his  struggle 
that  he  might  let  his  companion  have  time.  That  might  be 
his  second  thought,  but  his  first  certainly  was  to  escape  him 
self,  for  I  saw  him  set  his  foot  on  the  seat  to  leap  over,  when 
the  soldiers  pulled  him  back.  Wilson  was  immediately  car 
ried  out  to  the  Tolbooth,  and  Robertson,  getting  uninterrupted 
through  the  Parliament  Square,  down  the  back-stairs,  into 
the  Cowgate,  was  heard  of  no  more  till  he  arrived  in  Holland. 
.  This  was  an  interesting  scene,  and  by  filling  the  public  mind 
with  compassion  for  the  unhappy  person  who  did  not  escape, 
and  who  was  the  better  character  of  the  two,  had  probably 
some  influence  in  producing  what  followed  :  for  when  the 
sentence  against  Wilson  came  to  be  executed  a  few  weeks 


THE  PORTEOUS  MOB.  31 

thereafter,  a  very  strong  opinion  prevailed  that  there  was  a 
plot  to  force  the  Town  Guard,  whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  ex 
ecutions  under  the  order  of  a  civil  magistrate. 

There  was  a  Captain  Porteous,  who  by  his  good  behavior 
in  the  army  had  obtained  a  subaltern's  commission,  and  had 
afterwards,  when  on  half-pay,  been  preferred  to  the  command 
of  the  City  Guard.  This  man,  by  his  skill  in  manly  exer 
cises,  particularly  thegolf^nd  by  gentlemanly  behavior,  was 
admitted  into  the  company  of  his  superiors,  which  elated  his 
mind,  and  added  insolence  to  his  native  roughness,  so  that  he 
was  much  hated  and  feared  by  the  mob  of  Edinburgh. 
When  the  day  of  execution  came,  the  rumor  of  a  deforce 
ment  at  the  gallows  prevailed  strongly ;  and  the  Provost  and 
Magistrates  (not  in  their  own  minds  very  strong)  thought 
it  a  good  measure  to  apply  for  three  or  four  companies  of  a 
marching  regiment  that  lay  in  the  Canongate,  to  be  drawn  up 
in  the  Lawnmarket,  a  street  leading  from  the  Tolbooth  to 
the  Grassmarket,  the  place  of  execution,  in  order  to  overawe 
the  mob  by  their  being  at  hand.  Porteous,  who,  it  is  said, 
had  his  natural  courage  increased  to  rage  by  any  suspicion 
that  he  and  his  Guard  could  not  execute  the  law,  and  being 
heated  likewise  with  wine,  —  for  he  had  dined,  as  the  custom 
then  was,  between  one  and  two, — became  perfectly  furious 
when  he  passed  by  the  three  companies  drawn  up  in  the 
street  as  he  marched  along  with  his  prisoner. 

Mr.  Baillie  had  taken  windows  in  a  house  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Grassmarket,  for  his  pupils  and  me,  in  the  second 
floor,  about  seventy  or  eighty  yards  westward  of  the  place 
of  execution,  where  we  went  in  due  time  to  see  the  show  ;  to 
which  I  had  no  small  aversion,  having  seen  one  at  Dum 
fries,  the  execution  of  Jock  Johnstone,  which  shocked  me 
very  much.*  When  we  arrived  at  the  house,  some  people 

*  See  above,  p.  19,  note. 


32  THE  PORTEOUS  MOB. 

who  were  looking  from  the  windows  were  displaced,  and 
went  to  a  window  in  the  common  stair,  about  two  feet  below 
the  level  of  ours.  The  street  is  long  and  wide,  and  there 
was  a  very  great  crowd  assembled.  The  execution  went  on 
with  the  usual  forms,  and  Wilson  behaved  in  a  manner  very- 
becoming  his  situation.  There  was  not  the  least  appearance 
of  an  attempt  to  rescue  ;  but  soon  after  the  executioner  had 
done  his  duty,  there  was  an  attack  made  upon  him,  as  usual 
on  such  occasions,  by  the  boys  and  blackguards  throwing 
stones  and  dirt  in  testimony  of  their  abhorrence  of  the  hang 
man.  But  there  was  no  attempt  to  break  through  the  guard 
and  cut  down  the  prisoner.  It  was  generally  said  that  there 
was  very  little,  if  any,  more  violence  than  had  usually  hap 
pened  on  such  occasions.  Porteous,  however,  inflamed  with 
wine  and  jealousy,  thought  proper  to  order  his  Guard  to  fire, 
their  muskets  being  loaded  with  slugs  ;  and  when  the  soldiers 
showed  reluctance,  I  saw  him  turn  to  them  with  threatening 
gesture  and  an  inflamed  countenance.  They  obeyed,  and 
fired ;  but  wishing  to  do  as  little  harm  as  possible,  many  of 
them  elevated  their  pieces,  the  effect  of  which  was  that  some 
people  were  wounded  in  the  windows ;  and  one  unfortunate 
lad,  whom  we  had  displaced,  was  killed  in  the  stair-window 
by  a  slug  entering  his  head.  His  name  was  Henry  Black, 
a  journeyman  tailor,  whose  bride  was  the  daughter  of  the 
house  we  were  in.  She  fainted  away  when  he  was  brought 
into  the  house  speechless,  where  he  only  lived  till  nine  or  ten 
o'clock.  We  had  seen  many  people,  women  and  men,  fall  on 
the  street,  and  at  first  thought  it  was  only  through  fear,  and 
by  their  crowding  on  one  another  to  escape.  But  when  the 
crowd  dispersed,  we  saw  them  lying  dead  or  wounded,  and 
had  no  longer  any  doubt  of  what  had  happened.  The 
numbers  were  said  to  be  eight  or  nine  killed,  and  double  the 
number  wounded  ;  but  this  was  never  exactly  known. 


THE  PORTEOUS  MOB.  33 

This  unprovoked  slaughter  irritated  the  common  people 
to  the  last ;  and  the  state  of  grief  and  rage  into  which  their 
minds  were  thrown  was  visible  in  the  high  commotion  that 
appeared  in  the  multitude.  Our  tutor  was  very  anxious  to 
have  us  all  safe  in  our  lodgings,  but  durst  not  venture  out  to 
see  if  it  was  practicable  to  go  home.  I  offered  to  go  ;  went, 
and  soon  returned,  offering  to  conduct  them  safe  to  our  lodg 
ings,  which  were  only  half-way  down  the  JLawnmarket,  by 
what  was  called  the  Castle  Wynd,  which  was  just  at  hand, 
to  the  westward.  There  we  remained  safely,  and  were  not 
allowed  to  stir  out  any  more  that  night  till  about  nine  o'clock, 
when,  the  streets  having  long  been  quiet,  we  all  grew  anx 
ious  to  learn  the  fate  of  Henry  Black,  and  I  was  allowed  to 
go  back  to  the  house.  I  took  the  younger  Maxwell  with  me, 
and  found  that  he  had  expired  an  hour  before  we  arrived. 
A  single  slug  had  penetrated  the  side  of  his  head  an  inch 
above  the  ear.  The  sequel  of  this  affair  was,  that  Porteous 
was  tried  and  condemned  to  be  hanged ;  but  by  the  interces 
sion  of  some  of  the  Judges  themselves,  who  thought  his  case 
hard,  he  was  reprieved  by  the  Queen-Regent,  The  Magis 
trates,  who  on  this  occasion,  as  on  the  former,  acted  weakly, 
designed  to  have  removed  him  to  the  Castle  for  greater 
security.  But  a  plot  was  laid  and  conducted  by  some  persons 
unknown  with  the  greatest  secrecy,  policy,  and  vigor,  to 
prevent  that  design,  by  forcing  the  prison  the  night  before 
and  executing  the  sentence  upon  him  themselves,  which  to 
effectuate  cost  them  from  eight  at  night  till  two  in  the  morn 
ing  ;  and  yet  this  plot  was  managed  so  dexterously  that 
they  met  with  no  interruption,  though  there  were  five  com 
panies  of  a  marching  regiment  lying  in  the  Canongate. 

This  happened  on  the  7th  of  September,  1736  ;  and  so 
prepossessed  were  the  minds  of  every  person  that  some 
thing  extraordinary  would  take  place  that  day,  that  I,  at 
2*  c 


34  THE  POKTEOUS  MOB. 

Prestonpans,  nine  miles  from  Edinburgh,  dreamt  that  I  saw 
Captain  Porteous  hanged  in  the  Grassmarket.  I  got  up 
betwixt  six  and  seven,  and  went  to  my  father's  servant, 
who  was  thrashing  in  the  barn  which  lay  on  the  roadside 
leading  to  Aberlady  and  North  Berwick,  who  said  that 
several  men  on  horseback  had  passed  about  five  in  the 
morning,  whom  having  asked  for  news,  they  replied  there 
was  none,  but  that  Captain  Porteous  had  been  dragged  out 
of  prison,  and  hanged  on  a  clyer's  tree  at  two  o'clock  that 
morning. 

This  bold  and  lawless  deed  not  only  provoked  the  Queen, 
who  was  Regent  at  the  time,  but  gave  some  uneasiness  to 
Government.  It  was  represented  as  a  dangerous  plot,  and 
was  ignorantly  connected  with  a  great  meeting  of  zealous 


;s,  of  whom  many  still  remained  in  Galloway  and 
the  west,  which  had  been  held  in  summer,  in  Pentland  Hills, 
to  renew  the  Covenant.  But  this  was  a  mistake  ;  for  the 
murder  of  Porteous  had  been  planned  and  executed  by  a 
few  of  the  relations  or  friends  of  those  whom  he  had  slain  ; 
who,  being  of  a  rank  superior  to  mere  mob,  had  carried  on 
their  design  with  so  much  secrecy,  ability,  and  steadiness  as 
made  it  be  ascribed  to  a  still  higher  order,  who  were  political 
enemies  to  Government.  This  idea  provoked  Lord  Isla,  who 
then  managed  the  affairs  of  Scotland  under  Sir  Robert  Wai- 
pole,  to  carry  through  an  Act  of  Parliament  in  next  session 
for  the  discovery  of  the  murderers  of  Captain  Porteous,  to 
be  published  by  reading  it  for  twelve  months,  every  Sunday 
forenoon,  in  all  the  churches  in  Scotland,  immediately  after 
divine  service,  or  rather  in  the  middle  of  it,  for  the  minister 
was  ordained  to  read  it  between  the  lecture  and  the  sermon, 
two  discourses  usually  given  at  that  time.  This  clause,  it 
was  said,  was  intended  to  purge  the  Church  of  fanatics,  for 
as  it  was  believed  that  most  clergymen  of  that  description 


THE  PORTEOUS  MOB.  35 

would  not  read  the  Act,  they  would  become  liable  to  the 
penalty,  which  was  deposition.  By  good-luck  for  the  clergy, 
there  was  another  party  distinction  among  them  (besides  that 
occasioned  by  their  ecclesiastical  differences),  viz.  that  of 
Argathelian  and  Squadrone,  of  which  political  divisions  there 
were  some  both  of  the  high-flying  and  moderate  clergy.* 
Some  very  sensible  men  of  the  latter  class  having  discovered 
the  design  of  the  Act,  either  by  information  or  sagacity,  con 
vened  meetings  of  clergy  at  Edinburgh,  and  formed  resolu 
tions,  and  carried  on  correspondence  through  the  Church  to 
persuade  as  many  as  possible  to  disobey  the  Act,  that  the 
great  number  of  offenders  might  secure  the  safety  of  the 
whole.  This  was  actually  the  case,  for  as  one  half  of  the 
clergy,  at  least,  disobeyed  in  one  shape  or  other,  the  idea  of 
inflicting  the  penalty  was  dropped  altogether.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  distress  and  perplexity  which  this  Act  occasioned 
in  many  families  of  the  clergy  was  of  itself  a  cruel  punish 
ment  for  a  crime  in  which  they  had  no  hand.  The  anxious 
days  and  sleepless  nights  which  it  occasioned  to  such  ministers 
as  had  families,  and  at  the  same  time  scruples  about  the  law 
fulness  of  reading  the  Act,  were  such  as  no  one  could  imagine 
who  had  not  witnessed  the  scene. 

The  part  my  grandfather  took  was  manly  and  decided  ;  for, 
not  thinking  the*  reading  of  the  Act  unlawful,  he  pointedly 

*  The  term  "  Argathelian  "  is  new  to  the  Editor,  but  the  meaning  is  obvi 
ous.  "  Argathelia"  is  the  Latin  name  of  the  province  of  Argyle,  and  the 
word  doubtless  applied  to  those  who  favored  that  unlimited  influence  in  the 
affairs  of  Scotland  exercised  by  the  family  of  Argyle  before  the  ascendency 
of  Lord  Bute.  The  name  of  "  Squadrone  "  had  been  long  used  to  designate 
a  public  party  professing  entire  independence.  The  "  ecclesiastical  differ 
ences  "  concentrated  themselves  in  a  dispute,  of  memorable  importance 
to  the  Church  of  Scotland,  called  "  The  Marrow  Controversy,"  from  one 
party  standing  by,  and  the  other  impugning,  Fisher's  Marrow  nf  Modern 
Divinity.  —  Er». 


36  PROFESSORS  AND  COMPANIONS. 

obeyed.  My  father  was  very  scrupulous,  being  influenced  by 
Mr.  Erskine  of  Grange,  and  other  enemies  of  Sir  Robert 
Walpole.  On  the  other  hand,  the  good  sense  of  his  wife, 
and  the  consideration  of  eight  or  nine  children  whom  he 
then  had,  and  who  were  in  danger  of  being  turned  out  on 
the  world,  pulled  him  very  hard  on  the  side  of  obedience.  A 
letter  from  my  grandfather  at  last  settled  his  mind,  and  he 
read  the  Act. 

What  seemed  extraordinary,  after  all  the  anxiety  of  Gov 
ernment,  and  the  violent  means  they  took  to  make  a  discov 
ery,  not  one  of  those  murderers  was  ever  found.  Twenty 
years  afterwards,  two  or  three  persons  returned  from  different 
parts  of  the  world,  who  were  supposed  to  be  of  the  number ; 
but,  so  far  as  I  heard,  they  never  disclosed  themselves. 

In  my  second  year  at  the  College,  November,  1736,  besides 
attending  M'Laurin's  class  for  mathematics,  and  Kerr's  pri 
vate  class,  in  which  he  read  Juvenal,  Tacitus,  &c.,  and  opened 
up  the  beauties  and  peculiarities  of  the  Latin  tongue,  I  went 
to  the  Logic  class,  taught  by  Mr.  John  Stevenson,  who,  though 
he  had  no  pretensions  to  superiority  in  point  of  learning  and 
genius,  yet  was  the  most  popular  of  all  the  Professors  on  ac 
count  of  his  civility  and  even  kindness  to  his  students,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  most  useful ;  for  being  a  man  of  sense  and 
industry,  he  had  made  a  judicious,  selection  from  the  French 
and  English  critics,  which  he  gave  at  the  morning  hour  of 
eight,  when  he  read  with  us  Aristotle's  Poetics  and  Longinus 
On  the  Sublime.  At  eleven  he  read  Heineccius's  Logic,  and 
an  abridgment  of  Locke's  Essay ;  and  in  the  afternoon  at 
two  —  for  such  were  the  hours  of  attendance  in  those  times  — 
he  read  to  us  a  compendious  history  of  the  ancient  philoso 
phers,  and  an  account  of  their  tenets.  On  all  these  branches 
we  were  carefully  examined  at  least  three  times  a  week. 
Whether  or  not  it  was  owing;  to  the  time  of  life  at  which  we 


PROFESSORS  AND   COMPANIONS.  37 

entered  this  class,  being  all  about  fifteen  years  of  age  or  up 
wards,  when  the  mind  begins  to  open,  or  to  the  excellence  of 
the  lectures  and  the  nature  of  some  of  the  subjects,  we  could 
not  then  say,  but  all  of  us  received  the  same  impression,  — 
viz.  that  our  minds  were  more  enlarged,  and  that  we  received 
greater  benefit  from  that  class  than  from  any  other.  With  a 
due  regard  to  the  merit  of  the  Professor,  I  must  ascribe  this 
impression  chiefly  to  the  natural  effect  which  the  subject  of 
criticism  and  of  rational  logic  has  upon  the  opening  mind. 
Having  learned  Greek  pretty  well  at  school,  my  father  thought 
fit  to  make  me  pass  that  class,  especially  as  it  was  taught  at 
that  time  by  an  old  sickly  man,  who  could  seldom  attend,  and 
employed  substitutes. 

This  separated  me  from  some  of  my  companions,  and 
brought  me  acquainted  with  new  ones.  Sundry  of  my  class- 
fellows  remained  another  year  with  Kerr,  and  Sir  Gilbert 
Elliott,  John  Home,  and  many  others,  went  back  to  him  that 
year.  It  was  this  year  that  I  attended  the  French  master, 
one  Kerr,  who,  for  leave  given  him  to  teach  in  a  College 
room,  taught  his  scholars  the  whole  session  for  a  guinea, 
which  was  then  all  that  the  regents  could  demand  for  a  ses 
sion  of  the  College,  from  the  1st  of  November  to  the  1st  of 
June.  During  that  course  we  were  made  sufficiently  masters 
of  French  to  be  able  to  read  any  book.  To  improve  our  pro 
nunciation,  he  made  us  get  one  of  Moliere's  plays  by  heart, 
which  we  were  to  have  acted,  but  never  did.  It  was  the  Me- 
decin  malgre  lui,  in  which  I  had  the  part  of  Sganarelle. 

Besides  the  young  gentleman  who  had  resided  with  us  in 
the  former  year,  there  came  into  the  lodging  below  two  Irish 
students  of  medicine,  whose  names  were  Conway  and  Lesly, 
who  were  perfectly  well-bred  and  agreeable,  and  with  whom, 
though  a  year  or  two  older,  I  was  very  intimate.  They  were 
among  the  first  Irish  students  whom  the  fame  of  the  fir~t 


38  PROFESSORS  AND  COMPANIONS. 

Monro  and  the  other  medical  Professors  had  brought  over ; 
and  they  were  not  disappointed.  They  were  sober  and  studi 
ous,  as  well  as  well-bred,  and  had  none  of  that  restless  and 
turbulent  disposition,  dignified  with  the  name  of  spirit  and  fire, 
which  has  often  since  made  the  youth  of  that  country  such 
troublesome  members  of  society.  Mr.  Lesly  was  a  clergy 
man's  son,  of  Scottish  extraction,  and  was  acknowledged  as  a 
distant  relation  by  some  of  the  Eglintoun  family.  Conway's 
relations  were  all  beyond  the  Channel.  I  was  so  much  their 
favorite  both  this  year  and  the  following,  when  they  returned, 
and  lived  so  much  with  them,  that  they  had  very  nearly  per 
suaded  me  to  be  of  their  profession.  At  this  time  the  medical 
school  of  Edinburgh  was  but  rising  into  fame.  There  were 
not  so  many  as  twenty  English  and  Irish  students  this  year  in 
the  College.  The  Professors  were  men  of  eminence.  Be 
sides  Monro,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  there  were  Dr.  Sinclair.* 
I  was  in  use  of  going  to  my  father's  on  Saturdays  once  a 
fortnight,  and  returning  on  Monday;  but  this  little  journey 
was  less  frequently  performed  this  winter,  as  Sir  Harry  Nis- 
bet's  mother,  Lady  Nisbet,  a  sister  of  Sir  Robert  Morton's, 
very  frequently  invited  me  to  accompany  her  son  and  the 
Maxwells  to  the  house  of  Dean,  within  a  mile  of  Edinburgh, 
where  we  passed  the  day  in  hunting  with  the  greyhounds,  and 
generally  returned  to  town  in  the  evening.  Here  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  a  new  set  of  company  (my  circle  having 
been  very  limited  in  Edinburgh),  whose  manners  were  more 
worthy  of  imitation,  and  whose  conversation  had  more  the  tone 
of  the  world.  Here  I  frequently  met  with  Mr.  Baron  Dal- 
rymple,  the  youngest  brother  of  the  then  Earl  of  Stair,  and 
grandfather  of  the  present  Earl.  He  was  held  to  be  a  man 
of  wit  and  humor ;  and,  in  the  language  and  manners  of  the 
gentlemen  of  Scotland  before  the  Union,  exhibited  a  specimen 

*  Sic.  He  seems  to  have  intended  to  add  other  names.  —  En. 


PROFESSORS  AND  COMPANIONS.  39 

of  conversation  that  was  so  free  as  to  border  a  little  on  licen 
tiousness,  especially  before  the  ladies ;  but  he  never  failed  to 
keep  the  table  in  a  roar. 

Having  passed  the  Greek  class,  I  missed  many  of  my  most 
intimate  companions,  who  either  remained  one  year  longer  at 
the  Latin  class,  or  attended  the  Greek.  But  I  made  new 
ones,  who  were  very  agreeable,  such  as  Sir  Alexander  Cock- 
burn  of  Langton,  who  had  been  bred  in  England  till  now,  and 
John  Gibson,  the  son  of  Sir  Alexander  Gibson  of  Addison, 
both  of  wrhom  perished  in  the  war  that  was  approaching. 

In  summer  1737  I  was  at  Prestonpans ;  and  in  July,  two 
or  three  days  before  my  youngest  sister  Jenny  was  born, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Bell,  I  met  with  an  accident  which  confined 
me  many  weeks,  which  was  a  shot  in  my  leg,  occasioned  by 
the  virole  of  a  ramrod  having  fallen  into  a  musket  at  a  review 
in  Musselburgh  Links,  part  of  which  lodged  in  the  outside  of 
the  calf  of  my  leg,  and  could  not  be  extracted  till  after  the 
place  had  been  twice  laid  open,  when  it  came  out  with  a 
dressing,  and  was  about  the  size  of  the  head  of  a  nail.  This 
was  the  reason  why  I  made  no  excursion  to  Dumfriesshire 
this  summer. 

Early  in  the  summer  I  lost  one  of  the  dearest  friends  I  ever 
had,  who  died  of  a  fever.  We  had  often  settled  it  between 
us,  that  whoever  should  die  first,  should  appear  to  the  other, 
and  tell  him  the  secrets  of  the  invisible  world.  I  walked 
every  evening  for  hours  in  the  fields  and  links  of  Prestonpans, 
in  hopes  of  meeting  my  friend ;  but  he  never  appeared.  This 
disappointment,  together  with  the  knowledge  I  had  acquired 
at  the  Logic  class,  cured  me  of  many  prejudices  about  ghosts 
and  hobgoblins  and  witches,  of  which  till  that  time  I  stood  not 
a  little  in  awe. 

The  next  session  of  the  College,  beginning  in  November, 
1737,  I  lodged  in  the  same  house  and  had  the  same  compan- 


40  DANCING. 

ions  as  I  had  the  two  preceding  years.  Besides  Sir  Robert 
Stewart's  Natural  Philosophy  class,  which  was  very  ill  taught, 
as  he  was  worn  out  with  age,  and  never  had  excelled,  I  at 
tended  M'Laurin's  second  class,  and  Dr.  Pringle's  Moral  Phi 
losophy,  besides  two  hours  at  the  writing-master  to  improve 
my  hand,  and  a  second  attendance  on  Mr.  Kerr's  private  class. 
The  circle  of  my  acquaintance  was  but  little  enlarged,  and  I 
derived  more  agreeable  amusement  from  the  two  Irish  stu 
dents,  who  returned  to  their  former  habitation,  than  from  any 
other  acquaintance,  except  the  Maxwells  and  their  friends. 
My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Robertson  began  about  this  time. 
I  never  was  at  the  same  class  with  him,  for,  though  but  a  few 
months  older,  he  was  at  College  one  session  before  me.  One 
of  the  years,  too,  he  was  seized  with  a  fever,  which  was  dan 
gerous,  and  confined  him  for  the  greater  part  of  the  winter.  I 
went  to  see  him  sometimes  when  he  was  recovering,  when  in 
his  conversation  one  could  perceive  the  opening  dawn  of  that 
day  which  afterwards  shone  so  bright.  I  became  also  ac 
quainted  with  John  Home  this  year,  though  he  was  one  year 
behind  me  at  College,  and  eight  months  younger.  He  was 
gay  and  talkative,  and  a  great  favorite  with  his  companions. 

I  was  very  fond  of  dancing,  in  which  I  was  a  great  pro 
ficient,  having  been  taught  at  two  different  periods  in  the 
country,  though  the  manners  were  then  so  strict  that  I  was 
not  allowed  to  exercise  my  talent  at  penny-weddings,  or  any 
balls  but  those  of  the  dancing-school.  Even  this  would  have 
been  denied  me,  as  it  was  to  Robertson  and  Witherspoon,  and 
other  clergymen's  sons,  at  that  time,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
persuasion  of  those  aunts  of  mine  who  had  been  bred  in 
England,  and  for  some  papers  in  the  Spectator  which  were 
pointed  out  to  my  father,  which  seemed  to  convince  him  that 
dancing  would  make  me  a  more  accomplished  preacher,  if 
ever  I  had  the  honor  to  mount  the  pulpit.  My  mother,  too, 


SIR  JOHN  PRINGLE.  41 

who  generally  was  right,  used  her  sway  in  this  article  of 
education.  But  I  had  not  the  means  of  using  this  talent,  of 
which  I  was  not  a  little  vain,  till  luckily  I  was  introduced  to 
Madame  Yiolante,  an  Italian  stage-dancer,  who  kept  a  much- 
frequented  school  for  young  ladies,  but  admitted  of  no  boys 
above  seven  or  eight  years  of  age,  so  that  she  wished  very 
much  for  senior  lads  to  dance  with  her  grown-up  misses 
weekly  at  her  practisings.  I  became  a  favorite  of  this  dan 
cing-mistress,  and  attended  her  very  faithfully  with  two  or 
three  of  my  companions,  and  had  my  choice  of  partners  on 
all  occasions,  insomuch  that  I  became  a  great  proficient  in 
this  branch  at  little  or  no  expense.  It  must  be  confessed, 
however,  that,  having  nothing  to  do  at  Stewart's  class,  through 
the  incapacity  of  the  master,  and  M'Laurin's  giving  me  no 
trouble,  as  I  had  a  great  promptitude  in  learning  mathematics, 
I  had  a  good  deal  of  spare  time  this  session,  which  I  spent,  as 
well  as  all  the  money  I  got,  at  a  billiard-table,  which  unluckily 
was  within  fifty  yards  of  the  College.  I  was  so  sensible  of 
the  folly  of  this,  however,  that  next  year  I  abandoned  it 
altogether. 

Dr.  Pringle,  afterwards  Sir  John,  was  an  agreeable  lec 
turer,  though  no  great  master  of  the  science  he  taught.* 
His  lectures  were  chiefly  a  compilation  from  Lord  Bacon's 
works ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  Puffendorf 's  small  book, 
which  he  made  his  text,  we  should  not  have  been  instructed 
in  the  rudiments  of  the  science.  Once  a  week,  however,  he 
gave  us  a  lecture  in  Latin,  in  which  language  he  excelled, 
and  was  even  held  equal  to  Dr.  John  Sinclair,  Professor  of 
the  Theory  of  Medicine,  the  most  eminent  Latin  scholar  at 
that  time,  except  the  great  grammarian  Ruddiman.  The 
celebrated  Dr.  Hutchison  of  GlasgoAv,  who  was  the  first  that 

*  Afterwards  well  known  in  scientific  society  in  London,  where  he  became 
President  of  the  Royal  Society.  —  ED. 


42  THE  METAPHYSICAL   SCHOOL. 

distinguished  himself  in  that  important  branch  of  literature, 
was  now  beginning  his  career,  and  had  drawn  ample  stores 
from  the  ancients,  which  he  improved  into  system,  and  embel 
lished  by  the  exertions  of  an  ardent  and  virtuous  mind.  He 
was  soon  followed  by  Smith,  who  had  been  his  scholar,  and 
sat  for  some  years  in  his  chair ;  by  Ferguson  at  Edinburgh  ; 
by  Reid  and  Beattie,  which  last  was  more  an  orator  than  a 
philosopher ;  together  with  David  Hume,  whose  works,  though 
dangerous  and  heretical,  illustrated  the  science,  and  called 
forth  the  exertions  of  men  of  equal  genius  and  sounder 
principles. 

I  passed  the  greater  part  of  this  summer  (1738)  at  my 
grandfather's,  at  Tinwald,  near  Dumfries,  who  had  a  tolerably 
good  collection  of  books,  and  where  I  read  for  many  hours  in 
the  day.  I  contracted  the  greatest  respect  for  my  grand 
father,  and  attachment  to  his  family ;  and  became  well  ac 
quainted  with  the  young  people  of  Dumfries,  and  afterwards 
held  a  correspondence  by  letters  with  one  of  them,  which  was 
of  use  in  forming  my  epistolary  style. 

A  new  family  came  this  year  to  Prestonpans ;  for  Colin 
Campbell,  Esq.,  the  brother  of  Sir  James  of  Arbruchal,  had 
fallen  in  arrears  as  Collector  of  the  Customs,  and  was  sus 
pended.  But  his  wife  dying  at  that  very  time,  an  excellent 
woman  of  the  family  of  Sir  James  Holburn,  and  leaving  him 
eight  or  nine  children,  his  situation  drew  compassion  from  his 
friends,  especially  from  Archibald,  Earl  of  Isla,  and  James 
Campbell  of  St.  Germains,  who  were  his  securities,  and  who 
had  no  chance  of  being  reimbursed  the  sum  of  £  800  or 
£  1,000  of  arrears  into  which  he  had  fallen,  but  by  his  prefer 
ment.  He  was  soon  made  a  Commissioner  of  the  Board  of 
Customs,  an  office  at  that  time  of  £  1 ,000  per  annum.  This 
deprived  us  of  a  very  agreeable  family,  the  sons  and  daugh 
ters  of  which  were  my  companions.  Mr.  Campbell  was  sue- 


CHOICE  OF  A  PROFESSION.  43 

ceeded  by  Mr.  George  Cheap,  of  the  Cheaps  of  Rossie  in 
Fife,  whose  wife,  an  aunt  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  Wedcler- 
burn,  had  just  died  and  left  a  family  of  eight  children,  two 
of  them  beautiful  girls  of  sixteen  or  eighteen,  and  six  sons, 
the  eldest  of  whom  was  a  year  older  than  I,  but  was  an  ap 
prentice  to  a  Writer  to  the  Signet  in  Edinburgh.  This 
family,  though  less  sociable  than  the  former,  soon  became 
intimate  with  ours ;  and  one  of  them  very  early  made  an 
impression  on  me,  which  had  lasting  effects. 

In  November,  1738,  I  again  attended  the  College  of  Edin 
burgh  ;  and,  besides  a  second  year  of  the  Moral  Philosophy, 
I  was  a  third  year  at  M'Laurin's  class,  who  on  account  of 
the  advanced  age  and  incapacity  of  Sir  Robert  Stewart,  not 
only  taught  Astronomy,  but  gave  us  a  course  of  experiments 
in  Mechanics,  with  many  excellent  lectures  in  Natural  Phi 
losophy,  which  fully  compensated  the  defects  of  the  other 
class.  About  this  time  the  choice  of  a  profession  became 
absolutely  necessary.  I  had  thoughts  of  the  army  and  the 
law,  but  was  persuaded  to  desist  from  any  views  on  them  by 
my  father's  being  unable  to  carry  on  my  education  for  the 
length  of  time  necessary  in  the  one,  or  to  support  me  till  he 
could  procure  a  commission  for  me,  as  he  had  no  money  to 
purchase ;  and  by  means  of  the  long  peace,  the  establishment 
of  the  army  was  low.  Both  these  having  failed,  by  the  per 
suasion  of  Lesly  and  Conway,  my  Irish  friends,  I  thought  of 
surgery,  and  had  prevailed  so  far  that  my  father  went  to 
Edinburgh  in  the  autumn  to  look  out  for  a  master  in  that 
profession.* 

*  I  drew  up  with  them  [Leslie  and  Conway],  and  they  had  almost  in 
duced  me  to  be  a  doctor,  had  not  the  dissection  of  a  child,  which  they 
bought  of  a  poor  tailor  for  6s.,  disgusted  me  completely.  The  man  had 
asked  6s.  6c?.,  but  they  beat  him  down  the  6d.  by  asserting  that  the  bargain 
was  to  him  Avorth  more  than  12s.,  as  it  saved  him  all  the  expense  of  burial. 


44:  DUMFRIES. 

In  the  mean  time  came  a  letter  from  my  grandfather,  in 
favor  of  his  own  profession  and  that  of  my  father,  written 
with  so  much  force  and  energy,  and  stating  so  many  reasons 
for  my  yielding  to  the  wish  of  my  friends  and  the  conven- 
iency  of  a  family  still  consisting  of  eight  children,  of  whom  I 
was  the  eldest,  that  I  yielded  to  the  influence  of  parental 
wishes  and  advice,  which  in  those  days  swayed  the  minds  of 
young  men  much  more  than  they  do  now,  or  have  done  for 
many  years  past.  I  therefore  consented  that  my  name  should 
this  year  be  enrolled  in  the  list  of  students  of  divinity,  though 
regular  attendance  was  not  enjoined. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1739,  there  was  a  total  eclipse 
of  the  moon,  to  view  which  M'Laurin  invited  his  senior 
scholars,  of  whom  I  was  one.  About  a  dozen  of  us  remained 
till  near  one  o'clock  on  the  Sunday  morning,  when  the  great 
est  tempest  arose  that  I  remember.  Eight  or  ten  of  us  were 
so  much  alarmed  with  the  fall  of  bricks  or  slates  in  the  Col 
lege  Wynd,  that  we  called  a  council  of  war  in  a  stair-foot, 
and  got  to  the  High  Street  safe  by  walking  in  file  down  the 
Cowgate  and  up  Niddry's  Wynd. 

I  passed  most  of  the  summer  this  year  in  Dumfriesshire, 
where  my  grandfather  kept  me  pretty  close  to  my  studies, 
though  I  frequently  walked  in  the  afternoons  to  Dumfries, 
and  brought  him  the  newspapers  from  Provost  Bell,  his  son- 
in-law,  who  had  by  that  time  acquired  the  chief  sway  in  the 
burgh,  having  taken  the  side  of  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  in 

The  hearing  of  this  bargain,  together  with  that  of  the  dialogue  in  which 
they  carried  it  on,  were  not  less  grating  to  my  feelings  than  the  dissection 
itself.  Before  that  I  had  been  captivated  by  the  sight  of  a  handsome  cornet 
of  the  Greys,  and  would  needs  be  a  soldier;  but  my  father  having  no  money 
to  purchase  a  commission  for  me,  and  not  being  able,  he  said,  to  spare  as 
much  money  per  day  as  would  make  me  live  like  a  gentleman,  although 
Colonel  Gardiner  said  he  would  recommend  me  for  a  cadet  in  a  very  good 
regiment,  I  desisted  from  this  also.  —  Recollections. 


FRIENDS  AND  COMPANIONS.  45 

opposition  to  Charles  Erskine  of  Tinwald,  at  that  time  the 
Solicitor.  George  Bell  was  not  a  man  of  ability,  but  he  was 
successful  in  trade,  was  popular  in  his  manners,  and,  having  a 
gentlemanly  spirit,  was  a  favorite  with  the  nobility  and 
gentry  in  the  neighborhood.  He  had  a  constant  correspond 
ence  with  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  and  retained  his  friend 
ship  till  his  death  in  1757.  What  Bell  wanted  in  capacity 
or  judgment  was  fully  compensated  by  his  wife,  Margaret 
Robison,  the  second  of  my  mother's  sisters,  and  afterwards 
still  more  by  my  sister  Margaret,  whom  they  reared,  as 
they  had  no  children,  and  who,  when  she  grew  up,  added 
beauty  and  address  to  a  very  uncommon  understanding. 
During  the  period  when  I  so  much  frequented  Dumfries, 
there  was  a  very  agreeable  society  in  that  town.  They  were 
not  numerous,  but  the  few  were  better  informed,  and  more 
agreeable  in  society,  than  any  to  be  met  with  in  so  small  a 
town. 

I  returned  home  before  winter,  but  did  not  attend  the 
College,  though  I  was  enrolled  a  student  of  divinity.  But 
my  father  had  promised  to  Lord  Drummore,  his  great  friend, 
that  I  should  pass  most  of  my  time  with  his  eldest  son,  Mr. 
Hew  H.  Dalrymple,  who,  not  liking  to  live  in  Edinburgh,  was 
to  pass  the  winter  in  the  house  of  Walliford,  adjacent  to  his 
estate  of  Drummore,  where  he  had  only  a  farm-house  at  that 
time,  with  two  rooms  on  a  ground-floor,  which  would  have  ill 
agreed  with  Mr.  Hew's  health,  which  was  threatened  with 
symptoms  of  consumption,  the  disease  of  which  he  died  five 
or  six  years  afterwards,  having  been  married,  but  leaving  no 
issue. 

Mr.  Hew  H.  Dalrymple  had  been  intended  for  the  Church 
of  England,  and  with  that  view  had  been  educated  at  Oxford, 
and  was  an  accomplished  scholar ;  but  his  elder  brother  John, 
having  died  at  Naples,  he  fell  heir  to  his  mother's  estate.  He 


46  THE  DALRYMPLES  AND  KEITHS. 

was  five  or  six  years  older  than  I,  and  being  frank  and  com 
municative,  I  received  much  benefit  from  his  conversation, 
which  was  instructive,  and  his  manners,  which  were  elegant. 
With  this  gentleman  I  lived  all  winter,  returning  generally 
to  my  father's  house  on  Saturdays,  when  Lord  Drummore 
returned  from  Edinburgh,  and  went  back  again  on  Monday, 
when  I  resumed  my  station.  We  passed  great  part  of  the 
day  in  November  and  December  planting  trees  round  the 
enclosures  at  Drummore,  which,  by  their  appearance  at 
present,  prove  that  they  were  not  well  chosen,  for  they  are 
very  small  of  their  age  ;  but  they  were  too  old  when  they 
were  planted.  After  the  frost  set  in  about  Christmas,  we 
passed  our  days  very  much  in  following  the  greyhounds  on 
foot  or  on  horseback,  and  though  our  evenings  were  generally 
solitary,  between  reading  and  talking  we  never  tired.  Mr. 
Hew's  manners  were  as  gentle  as  his  mind  was  enlightened. 
We  had  little  intercourse  with  the  neighbors,  except  with  my 
father's  family,  with  Mr.  Cheap's  (the  Collector),  where  there 
were  two  beautiful  girls,  and  with  Mr.  Keith,  afterwards 
ambassador,  whose  wife's  sister  was  the  widow  of  Sir  Robert 
Dalrymple,  brother  of  Lord  Drummore.  They  were  twins, 
and  so  like  each  other,  that  even  when  I  saw  them  first,  when 
they  were  at  least  thirty,  it  was  hardly  possible  to  distinguish 
them.  In  their  youth,  their  lovers,  I  have  heard  them  say, 
always  mistook  them  when  a  sign  or  watchward  had  not  been 
agreed  on.  Mr.  Keith  was  a  very  agreeable  man,  had  much 
knowledge  of  modern  history  and  genealogy,  and,  being  a 
pleasing  talker,  made  an  agreeable  companion.  Of  him  and 
his  intimate  friend,  Mr.  Hepburn  of  Keith,  it  was  said  that 
the  witty  Lady  Dick  (Lord  Royston's  daughter)  said  that 
Mr.  Keith  told  her  nothing  but  what  she  knew  before,  though 
in  a  very  agreeable  manner,  but  that  Hepburn  never  said 
anything  that  was  not  new  to  her,  —  thus  marking  the  differ- 


THE  DALRYMPLES  AND  KEITHS.  47 

ence  between  genius  and  ability.  Keith  was  a  minion  of  the 
great  Mareschal  Stair,  and  went  abroad  with  him  in  1743, 
when  he  got  the  command  of  the  army.  But  I  observed  that 
Lord  Stair's  partiality  to  Keith  made  him  no  great  favorite 
of  the  Dalrymples.  Colonel  Gardiner  had  been  another 
minion  of  Lord  Stair,  but  being  illiterate,  and  considered  as  a 
fanatic,  the  gentleman  I  mention  had  no  intimacy  with  him, 
though  they  admitted  that  he  was  a  very  honest  and  well- 
meaning  brave  man. 

My  father  had  sometimes  expressed  a  wish  that  I  should 
allow  myself  to  be  recommended  to  take  charge  of  a  pupil, 
as  that  was  the  most  likely  Avay  to  obtain  a  church  in  Scot 
land  ;  but  he  did  not  press  me  on  this  subject,  for  as  he  had 
been  four  years  in  that  station  himself,  though  he  was  very 
fortunate  in  his  pupils,  he  felt  how  degrading  it  was.  By  that 
time  I  had  been  acquainted  with  a  few  preceptors,  had  ob 
served  how  they  were  treated,  and  had  contracted  an  abhor 
rence  of  the  employment,  —  insomuch  that,  when  I  consented 
to  follow  out  the  clerical  profession,  it  was  on  condition  I 
should  never  be  urged  to  go  into  a  family,  as  it  was  called, 
engaging  at  the  same  time  to  make  my  expenses  as  moderate 
as  possible. 

This  was  the  winter  of  the  hard  frost  which  commenced  in 
the  end  of  December,  1739,  and  lasted  for  three  months.  As 
there  were  no  canals  or  rivers  of  extent  enough  in  this  part 
of  the  country  to  encourage  the  fine  exercise  of  skating,  we 
contented  ourselves  with  the  winter  diversion  of  curling, 
which  is  peculiar  to  Scotland,  and  became  tolerable  proficients 
in  that  manly  exercise.  It  is  the  more  interesting,  as  it  is 
usual  for  the  young  men  of  adjacent  parishes  to  contend 
against  each  other  for  a  whole  winter's  day,  and  at  the  end 
of  it  to  dine  together  with  much  jollity. 

I  passed  the  summer  of  this  year,  as  usual,  in  the  neighbor- 


48  PKOFESSOES  AND  COMPANIONS. 

hood  of  Dumfries,  and  kept  up  my  connection  with  the  young 
people  of  that  town  as  I  had  done  formerly.  I  returned  home 
in  the  autumn,  and  passed  some  part  of  the  winter  in  Edin 
burgh,  attending  the  divinity  class,  which  had  no  attractions, 
as  the  Professor,  though  said  to  be  learned,  was  dull  and 
tedious  in  his  lectures,  inasmuch  that  at  the  end  of  seven 
years  he  had  only  lectured  half  through  Pictet's  Compend  of 
Theology.  I  became  acquainted,  however,  with  several 
students,  with  whom  I  had  not  been  intimate,  such  as  Dr. 
Hugh  Blair,  and  the  Bannatines,  and  Dr.  Jardine,  all  my 
seniors ;  Dr.  John  Blair,  afterwards  Prebendary  of  West 
minster;  John  Home,  .William  Robertson,  George  Logan, 
William  Wilkie,  &c.  There  was  one  advantage  attending 
the  lectures  of  a  dull  professor,  —  viz.  that  he  could  form 
no  school,  and  the  students  were  left  entirely  to  themselves, 
and  naturally  formed  opinions  far  more  liberal  than  those 
they  got  from  the  Professor.  This  was  the  answer  I  gave 
to  Patrick  Lord  Elibank,  one  of  the  most  learned  and  in 
genious  noblemen  of  his  time,  when  he  asked  me  one  day, 
many  years  afterwards,  what  could  be  the  reason  that  the 
young  clergymen  of  that  period  so  far  surpassed  their  pred 
ecessors  of  his  early  days  in  useful  accomplishments  and 
liberality  of  mind,  —  viz.  that  the  Professor  of  Theology  was 
'  dull,  and  Dutch,  and  prolix.  His  lordship  said  he  perfectly 
understood  me,  and  that  this  entirely  accounted  for  the  change. 
In  summer  1741  I  remained  for  the  most  part  at  home,  and 
it  was  about  that  time  that  my  old  schoolmaster,  Mr.  Hannan, 
having  died  of  fever,  and  Mr.  John  Halket  having  come  in 
his  place,  I  was  witness  to  a  scene  that  made  a  strong  impres 
sion  upon  me.  This  Mr.  Halket  had  been  tutor  to  Lord 
Lovat's  eldest  son  Simon,  afterwards  well  known  as  General 
Fraser.  Halket  had  remained  for  two  years  with  Lovat,  and 
knew  all  his  ways.  But  he  had  parted  with  him  on  his  com- 


GRANGE  AND  LOVAT.  49 

ing  to  Edinburgh  for  the  education  of  that  son,  to  whom  he 
gave  a  tutor  of  a  superior  order,  Mr.  Hugh  Blair,  afterwards 
the  celebrated  Doctor.  But  he  still  retained  so  much  regard 
for  Halket  that  he  thought  proper  to  fix  his  second  son,  Alex 
ander  Fraser,  with  him  at  the  school  of  Prestonpans,  believ 
ing  that  he  was  a  much  more  proper  hand  for  training  an 
untutored  savage  than  the  mild  and  elegant  Dr.  Blair.  It 
was  in  the  course  of  this  summer  that  Lovat  brought  his  son 
Alexander  to  be  placed  with  Halket,  from  whom,  understand 
ing  that  I  was  a  young  scholar  living  in  the  town  who  might 
be  useful  to  his  son,  he  ordered  Halket  to  invite  me  to  dine 
with  him  and  his  company  at  Lucky  Vint's,  a  celebrated  vil 
lage  tavern  in  the  west  end  of  the  town. 

His  company  consisted  of  Mr.  Erskine  of  Grange,  with 
three  or  four  gentlemen  of  the  name  of  Fraser,  one  of  whom 
was  his  man  of  business,  together  with  Halket,  his  son  Alex 
ander,  and  myself.  The  two  old  gentlemen  disputed  for  some 
time  which  of  them  should  say  grace.  At  last  Lovat  yielded, 
and  gave  us  two  or  three  pious  sentences  in  French,  which 
Mr.  Erskine  and  I  understood,  and  we  only.  As  soon  as  we 
were  set,  Lovat  asked  me  to  send  him  a  whiting  from  the  dish 
of  fish  that  was  next  me.  As  they  were  all  haddocks,  I  an 
swered  that  they  were  not  whitings,  but,  according  to  the  prov 
erb,  he  that  got  a  haddock  for  a  whiting  was  not  ill  off1. 
This  saying  takes  its  rise  from  the  superiority  of  haddocks  to 
whitings  in  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Upon  this  his  lordship 
stormed  and  swore  more  than  fifty  dragoons ;  he  was  sure 
they  must  be  whitings,  as  he  had  bespoke  them.  Halket 
tipped  me  the  wink,  and  I  retracted,  saying  that  I  had  but 
little  skill,  and  as  his  lordship  had  bespoke  them,  I  must  cer 
tainly  be  mistaken.  Upon  this  he  calmed,  and  I  sent  him  one, 
which  he  was  quite  pleased  with,  swearing  again  that  he  never 
could  eat  a  haddock  all  his  life.  The  landlady  told  me  after- 
3  D 


50  GRANGE  AND  LOVAT. 

wards  that  as  he  had  been  very  peremptory  against  had 
docks,  and  she  had  no  other,  she  had  made  her  cook  carefully 
scrape  out  St.  Peter's  mark  on  the  shoulders,  which  she  had 
often  done  before  with  success.  We  had  a  very  good  plain 
dinner.  As  the  claret  was  excellent,  and  circulated  fast,  the 
two  old  gentlemen  grew  very  merry,  and  their  conversation 
became  youthful  and  gay.  What  I  observed  was,  that  Grange, 
without  appearing  to  flatter,  was  very  observant  of  Lovat,  and 
did  everything  to  please  him.  He  had  provided  Geordy  Sym, 
who  was  Lord  Drummore's  piper,  to  entertain  Lovat  after 
dinner;  but  though  he  was  reckoned  the  best  piper  in  the 
country,  Lovat  despised  him,  and  said  he  was  only  fit  to  play 
reels  to  Grange's  oyster-women.  He  grew  frisky  at  last,  how 
ever,  and  upon  Kate  Vint,  the  landlady's  daughter,  coming 
into  the  room,  he  insisted  on  her  staying  to  dance  with  him. 
She  was  a  handsome  girl,  Avith  fine  black  eyes  and  an  agreea 
ble  person;  and  though  without  the  advantages  of  dress  or 
manners,  she,  by  means  of  her  good  sense  and  a  bashful  air, 
was  very  alluring.  She  was  a  mistress  of  Lord  Drummore, 
who  lived  in  the  neighborhood ;  and  though  her  mother  would 
not  part  with  her,  as  she  drew  much  company  to  the  house, 
she  was  said  to  be  faithful  to  him ;  except  only  in  the  case  of 
Captain  Merry,  who  married  her,  and  soon  after  went  abroad 
with  his  regiment.  When  he  died  she  enjoyed  the  pension. 
She  had  two  sons  by  Drummore  and  one  by  Merry.  One  of 
the  first  was  a  pretty  lad  and  a  good  officer,  for  he  was  a  mas 
ter  and  commander  before  he  died.  Lovat  was  at  this  time 
seventy-five,  and  Grange  not  much  younger ;  yet  the  wine 
and  the  young  woman  emboldened  them  to  dance  a  reel,  till 
Kate,  observing  Lo vat's  legs  as  thick  as  posts,  fell  a  laughing, 
and  ran  off.  She  missed  her  second  course  of  kisses,  as  was 
then  the  fashion  of  the  country,  though  she  had  endured  the 
first.  This  was  a  scene  not  easily  forgotten. 


GEANGE  AND  LOVAT.  51 

Lovat  was  tall  and  stately,  and  might  have  been  handsome 
in  his  youth,  with  a  very  flat  nose.  His  manner  was  not  dis 
agreeable,  though  his  address  consisted  chiefly  in  gross  flat 
tery  and  in  the  due  application  of  money.  He  did  not  make 
on  me  the  impression  of  a  man  of  a  leading  mind.  His  sup 
pleness  and  profligacy  were  apparent.  The  convivium  was 
not  over,  though  the  evening  approached.  He  conveyed  his 
son  to  the  house  where  he  was  to  be  boarded,  for  Halket  had 
not  taken  up  house ;  and  there,  while  we  drank  tea,  he  won 
the  heart  of  the  landlady,  a  decent  widow  of  a  shipmaster,  and 
of  her  niece,  by  fair  speeches,  intermixed  with  kisses  to  the 
niece,  who  was  about  thirty,  and  such  advices  as  a  man  in  a 
state  of  ebriety  could  give.  The  coach  was  in  waiting,  but 
Grange  would  not  yet  part  with  him,  and  insisted  on  his  ac 
cepting  of  a  banquet  from  him  at  his  house  in  Preston.  Lovat 
was  in  a  yielding  humor,  and  it  was  agreed  to.  The  Frasers, 
who  were  on  horseback,  were  sent  to  Edinburgh,  the  boy  was 
left  with  his  dame,  and  Lovat  and  Grange,  and  Halket  and  I, 
went  up  to  Preston,  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  and  were 
received  in  Grange's  library,  a  cube  of  twenty  feet,  in  a  pavil 
ion  of  the  house  which  extended  into  a  small  wilderness  of  not 
more  than  half  an  acre,  which  was  sacred  to  Grange's  private 
walks,  and  to  which  there  was  no  entry  but  through  the  pavil 
ion.  This  wilderness  was  said  to  be  his  place  of  retreat  from 
his  lady  when  she  was  in  her  fits  of  termagancy,  which  were 
not  unfrequent,  and  were  said  by  his  minions  to  be  devoted  to 
meditation  and  prayer.  But  as  there  was  a  secret  door  to  the 
fields,  it  was  reported  that  he  had  occasionally  admitted  fair 
maidens  to  solace  him  for  his  sufferings  from  the  clamor  of  his 
wife.  This  room  had  been  well  stored  with  books  from  top  to 
bottom,  but  at  this  time  was  much  thinned,  there  remaining 
only  a  large  collection  of  books  on  daemonologia,  which  was 
Grange's  particular  study.  In  this  room  there  was  a  fine  col- 


52  GLASGOW  BUKSARY. 

lection  of  fruit  and  biscuits,  and  a  new  deluge  of  excellent 
claret.  At  ten  o'clock  the  two  old  gentlemen  mounted  their 
coach  to  Edinburgh,  and  thus  closed  a  very  memorable  day. 

In  the  following  winter  —  viz.  November,  1741 — I  at 
tended  the  Divinity  Hall  at  Edinburgh  again  for  three  or  four 
months,  and  delivered  a  discourse,  De  Fide  Salvifica,  a  very 
improper  subject  for  so  young  a  student,  which  attracted  no 
attention  from  any  one  but  the  Professor,  who  was  pleased 
with  it,  as  it  resembled  his  own  Dutch  Latin. 

The  summer  1742  I  passed  at  home,  making  only  a  few 
excursions  into  East  Lothian,  where  I  had  sundry  companions. 
My  father,  ever  attentive  to  what  he  thought  was  best  for  me, 
and  desirous  to  case  himself  as  much  as  possible  from  the 
expense  of  my  education,  availed  himself  of  my  mother's  being 
a  relation  of  the  Hon.  Basil  Hamilton  —  for  their  mothers 
were  cousins  —  and  applied  to  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  for  one 
of  the  bursaries  given  by  Duchess  Ann  of  that  family  in  the 
former  century  to  students  in  divinity  to  pass  two  winters  in 
Glasgow  College,  and  a  third  in  some  foreign  university,  the 
salary  for  the  first  two  years,  £  100  Scots  annually,  and  for  the 
third,  £  400  ;  which  might  have  been  competent  as  far  back  as 
1670,  but  was  very  far  short  of  the  most  moderate  expense  at 
which  a  student  could  live  in  1742.*  But  I  was  pleased  with 
this  plan,  as  it  opened  a  prospect  of  going  abroad.  The  pre 
sentation  was  obtained,  and  my  father  and  I  set  out  on  horse 
back  for  Glasgow  in  the  beginning  of  November,  and  arrived 
there  next  forenoon,  having  stayed  all  night  at  Mr.  Dundas's 
of  Castle  Gary,  on  the  old  Roman  wall.  My  father  immedi 
ately  repaired  to  the  College  to  consult  with  an  old  friend  of 
his,  Mr.  Dick,  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy,  how  he  was 
to  proceed  with  his  presentation.  I  was  surprised  to  see  him 
return  after  in  a  great  flurry,  Mr.  Dick  having  assured  him 

*  A  hundred  pounds  Scots  are  equivalent  to  £  8  6s.  8d.  sterling:.  —  ED. 


GLASGOW  BURSARY.  53 

that  there  was  no  vacant  bursary,  nor  would  be  till  next  year. 
The  next  object  was  how  to  secure  it,  in  which  we  were  both 
much  interested  —  my  father,  to  prevent  my  deviating  into 
some  other  employment ;  and  I,  for  fear  I  should  have  been 
forced  to  become  tutor  to  some  young  gentleman,  a  situation 
which,  as  I  then  observed  it,  had  become  an  object  of  my 
abhorrence.  Several  of  niy  companions  had  the  same  turn  of 
mind;  for  neither  Robertson,  nor  John  Home,  nor  George 
Logan  were  ever  tutors.  We  thought  we  had  observed  that 
all  tutors  had  contracted  a  certain  obsequiousness  or  bassesse, 
which  alarmed  us  for  ourselves.  A  little  experience  corrected 
this  prejudice,  for  I  knew  many  afterwards  who  had  passed 
through  that  station,  and  yet  had  retained  a  manly  indepen 
dency  both  in  mind  and  manner. 

After  a  hasty  dinner,  we  took  our  horses  by  four  in  the 
afternoon,  and  riding  all  night  by  the  nearest  road,  which  was 
as  bad  as  possible,  we  arrived  in  Edinburgh  by  eight  in  the 
morning.  My  father  dressed  himself,  and  went  down  to  the 
Abbey,  where,  to  his  great  joy,  he  found  that  Duke  Hamil 
ton  was  not  set  out  for  London,  as  he  was  afraid  he  might 
have  been,  and  obtained  a  promise  that  the  presentation 
should  be  renewed  next  year. 

In  compensation  for  this  disappointment,  I  passed  the 
greatest  part  of  this  winter  at  my  grandfather's,  at  Tinwald, 
where  I  read  for  many  hours  of  the  day,  and  generally  took 
the  weekly  amusement  of  passing  one  day  and  night  at  Dum 
fries,  where  I  met  with  agreeable  society,  both  male  and 
female. 

I  returned  to  Edinburgh  in  March,  and  attended  the 
Divinity  Hall  for  a  few  weeks.  Living  at  Edinburgh  con 
tinued  still  to  be  wonderfully  cheap,  as  there  were  ordinaries 
for  young  gentlemen,  at  fourpence  a  head  for  a  very  good 
dinner  of  broth  and  beef,  and  a  roast  and  potatoes  every 


54  SOCIAL  HABITS. 

day,  with  fish  three  or  four  times  a  week,  and  all  the  small 
beer  that  was  called  for  till  the  cloth  was  removed.  In  the 
summer  I  passed  some  time  in  East  Lothian,  where  by  acci 
dent  at  that  period  there  were  no  less  than  a  dozen  young 
scholars,  preachers,  and  students  in  divinity,  who  generally 
met  there  on  the  presbytery  day.  For  two  or  three  times 
we  dined  with  the  presbytery  by  invitation ;  but  finding  that 
we  were  not  very  welcome  guests,  and  that  whatever  number 
there  were  in  company  they  never  allowed  them  more  than 
two  bottles  of  small  Lisbon  wine,  we  bespoke  a  dinner  for 
ourselves  in  another  tavern  ;  and  when  the  days  were  short, 
generally  stayed  all  night.  By  this  time  even  the  second 
tavern  in  Haddington  (where  the  presbytery  dined,  having 
quarrelled  with  the  first)  had  knives  and  forks  for  their  table. 
But  ten  or  twelve  years  before  that  time,  my  father  used  to 
carry  a  shagreen  case,  with  a  knife  and  fork  and  spoon,  as 
they  perhaps  do  still  on  many  parts  of  the  Continent.  When 
I  attended,  in  1742  and  1743,  they  had  still  but  one  glass  on 
the  table,  which  went  round  with  the  bottle. 

Very  early  in  the  afternoon,  Mr.  Stedman,  a  minister  m 
the  town,  and  one  or  two  more  of  the  clergymen,  used  to 
resort  to  our  company,  and  keep  up  an  enlightened  conversa 
tion  till  bedtime.  The  chief  subjects  were  the  deistical  con 
troversy  and  moral  philosophy,  as  connected  with  theology. 
Besides  Stedman,  Murray  and  Glen  almost  always  attended 
us.* 

*  Mr.  Edward  Stedman  was  second  minister  of  Haddington,  and  a  man 
of  very  superior  understanding.  He  it  was  who  first  directed  Dr.  Kobertson 
how  to  obtain  his  leading  in  the  Church,  and  who  was  the  friend  and  sup 
porter  of  John  Home,  when  he  was  in  danger  of  being  deposed  for  writing 
the  tragedy  of  Douglas.  It  was  Stedman  who,  with  the  aid  of  Hugh  Ban- 
natyne,  then  minister  of  Dirleton,  and  Robertson,  conducted  the  affairs  of 
the  presbytery  of  Haddington  in  such  a  manner  that  they  were  never  able 
to  reach  John  Home,  till  it  was  convenient  for  him  to  resign  his  charge. 


WITHERS? OON  OF  NEW   YORK.  55 

'  John  Witherspoon  was  of  this  party,  he  who  was  after 
wards  a  member  of  the  American  Congress,  and  Adam 
Dickson,  who  afterwards  wrote  so  well  on  Husbandry.  They 
were  both  clergymen's  sons,  but  of  very  different  characters  ; 
the  one  open,  frank,  and  generous,  pretending  only  to  what 
he  was,  and  supporting  his  title  with  spirit ;  the  other  close, 
and  suspicious,  and  jealous,  and  always  aspiring  at  a  superi 
ority  that  he  was  not  able  to  maintain.  I  used  sometimes 
to  go  with  him  for  a  day  or  two  to  his  father's  house  at  Gif- 
ford  Hall,  where  we  passed  the  day  in  fishing,  to  be  out  of 
reach  of  his  father,  who  was  very  sulky  and  tyrannical,  but 
who,  being  much  given  to  gluttony,  fell  asleep  early,  and 
went  always  to  bed  at  nine,  and,  being  as  fat  as  a  porpoise, 
was  not  to  be  awaked,  so  that  we  had  three  or  four  hours  of 
liberty  every  night  to  amuse  ourselves  with  the  daughters  of 
the  family,  and  their  cousins  who  resorted  to  us  from  the 
village,  when  the  old  man  was  gone  to  rest.  This  John  loved 
of  all  things  ;  and  this  sort  of  company  he  enjoyed  in  greater 
perfection  when  he  returned  my  visits,  when  we  had  still 
more  companions  of  the  fair  sex,  and  no  restraint  from  an 
austere  father ;  so  that  I  always  considered  the  austerity  of 
manners  and  aversion  to  social  joy  which  he  affected  after 
wards,  as  the  arts  of  hypocrisy  and  ambition ;  for  he  had  a 
strong  and  enlightened  understanding,  far  above  enthusiasm, 
and  a  temper  that  did  not  seem  liable  to  it.* 

#  Thomas  Hepburn,  a  distinguished  minister,  who  died  minister  of  Athel- 
etaneford,  and  was  born  and  bred  in  the  neighborhood,  used  to  allege  that  a 
Dr.  Nisbet  of  Montrose,  a  man  of  some  learning  and  ability,  which  he  used 
to  display  with  little  judgment  in  the  Assembly,  was  Witherspoon's  son, 
and  that  he  was  supported  in  this  opinion  by  the  scandalous  chronicle  of  the 
country.  Their  features,  no  doubt,  had  a  strong  resemblance,  but  their  per 
sons  were  unlike,  neither  were  their  tempers  at  all  similar.  Any  likeness 
there  was  between  them  in  their  sentiments  and  public  appearances  might 
be  accounted  for  by  the  great  admiration  the  junior  must  have  had  for  the 


56  THE  KEITH  FAMILY. 

It  was  this  summer  that  my  father  received  from  Mr. 
Keith  (afterwards  ambassador)  a  letter,  desiring  that  I  might 
be  sent  over  to  him  immediately.  He  had  been  sent  for  by 
Lord  Stair,  and  went  to  Germany  with  him  as  his  private 
secretary.  This  was  after  the  battle  of  Dettingen.  But  I 
knew  nothing  of  it  for  some  years,  otherwise  I  might  probably 
have  broke  through  my  father's  plan.  When  Lord  Stair  lost 
the  command  of  the  army,  Mr.  Keith  lived  with  him  at 
London,  and  had  a  guinea  a  day  conferred  on  him,  till  he 
was  sent  to  Holland  in  1746  or  1747  as  Resident.  His 
knowledge  of  modern  history,  and  of  all  the  treaties,  &c., 
made  him  be  valued. 

senior,  as  he  was  bred  up  under  his  eye,  in  the  same  parish,  in  which  he 
was  much  admired.  Whether  or  not  he  was  his  son,  he  followed  his  exam 
ple,  for  he  became  discontented,  and  migrated  to  America  during  the  Kebel- 
lion,  where  he  was  Principal  of  Carlisle  College,  Pennsylvania,  for  which 
he  was  well  qualified  in  point  of  learning.  But  no  preferment  nor  climate 
can  cure  a  discontented  mind,  for  he  became  miserable  at  one  time  because 
he  could  not  return. 


CHAPTER    III. 

1743-1745:    AGE,  21-23. 

GOES  TO  GLASGOW.  —  LEECHMAN,  HUTCHESON,  AND  THE  OTHER  PRO 
FESSORS.  —  LIFE  AND  SOCIETY  IN  GLASGOW.  —  RISE  OF  TRADE.  — 
ORIGIN  OF  GLASGOW  SUPPERS.  —  CLUBS.  —  HUTCHESON  THE  META 
PHYSICIAN.  —  SIMSON  AND  STEWART  THE  MATHEMATICIANS.  —  MOORE. 

—  TOUR  AMONG  THE  CLERGY  OF  HADDINGTON :   SKETCHES  OF  THEM. 

—  THE  AUTHOR  OF  "  THE  GRAVE."  —  RETURN  TO  GLASGOW.  —  COL 
LEGE  THEATRICALS.  —  TRAVELLING   ADVENTURES.  —  NEWS   OF   THE 
LANDING  OF  PRINCE  CHARLES.  —  A  VOLUNTEER  CORPS.  —  PREPARA 
TIONS  FOR  THE  DEFENCE  OF  EDINBURGH.  —  THE  MARCH  AND  RECALL 
OF  THE  VOLUNTEERS. —  THE  PROVOST'S  CONDUCT.  —  ADVENTURES  AS 
A   DISEMBODIED  VOLUNTEER.  —  ADVENTURES    OF   JOHN    HOME   AND 
ROBERTSON  THE   HISTORIAN.  —  EXPEDITION  TO  VIEW  COPE'S  ARMY. 

—  THE  POSITION  OF  THE  TWO  ARMIES.  —  His  LAST  INTERVIEW  WITH 
COLONEL   GARDINER.  —  INSTRUCTIONS   TO    BE   WAKENED   WHEN   THE 
BATTLE    BEGINS.  —  Is   WAKENED,   AND    DESCRIPTION    OF   WHAT    HE 
SEES.  —  THE  BATTLE.  —  INCIDENTS.  —  INSPECTION  OF  THE  HIGHLAND 
ARMY.  —  PRINCE    CHARLES.  —  PREPARATIONS    FOR    GOING    TO    HOL 
LAND. 

IN  November,  1743, 1  went  to  Glasgow,  much  more  oppor 
tunely  than  I  should  have  done  the  preceding  year,  for  the 
old  Professor  of  Divinity,  Mr.  Potter,  who  had  been  a  very 
short  while  there,  died  in  the  week  I  went  to  College ;  and 
his  chair,  being  in  the  gift  of  the  University,  was  immediately 
filled  by  Mr.  William  Leechman,  a  neighboring  clergyman,  a 
person  thoroughly  well  qualified  for  the  office,  of  which  he 
gave  the  most  satisfactory  proof  for  a  great  many  years  that 
he  continued  Professor  of  Theology,  which  was  till  the  death 
of  Principal  Neil  Campbell  raised  him  to  the  head  of  the  Uni- 
3* 


58  GLASGOW  IN  1743. 

versity.  He  was  a  distinguished  preacher,  and  was  followed 
when  he  was  occasionally  in  Edinburgh.  His  appearance 
was  that  of  an  ascetic,  reduced  by  fasting  and  prayer ;  but  in 
aid  of  fine  composition,  he  delivered  his  sermons  with  such 
fervent  spirit,  and  in  so  persuasive  a  manner,  as  captivated 
every  audience.*  This  was  so  much  the  case  that  his  admir 
ers  regretted  that  he  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  pulpit,  for 
the  Professor  of  Theology  has  no  charge  in  Glasgow,  and 
preaches  only  occasionally.  It  was  much  for  the  good  of  the 
Church,  however,  that  he  was  raised  to  a  station  of  more 
extensive  usefulness ;  for  while  his  interesting  manner  drew 
the  steady  attention  of  the  students,  the  judicious  choice  and 
arrangement  of  his  matter  formed  the  most  instructive  set  of 
lectures  on  theology  that  had,  it  was  thought,  ever  been  deliv 
ered  in  Scotland.  It  was,  no  doubt,  owing  to  him,  and  his 
friend  and  colleague  Mr.  Hutcheson,  Professor  of  Moral  Phi- 
/  losophy,  that  a  better  taste  and  greater  liberality  of  sentiment 
'were  introduced  among  the  clergy  in  the  western  provinces 
of  Scotland. 

Able  as  this  gentleman  was,  however,  and  highly  unexcep 
tionable  not  only  in  morals  but  in  decorum  of  behavior,  he 
was  not  allowed  to  ascend  his  chair  without  much  opposition, 
and  even  a  prosecution  for  heresy.  Invulnerable  as  he  seemed 
to  be,  the  keen  and  prying  eye  of  fanaticism  discovered  a 
weak  place,  to  which  they  directed  their  attacks.  There  had 
been  published  at  Glasgow,  or  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dr. 
Leechman's  church,  in  the  country,  before  he  came  to  Glas 
gow,  about  that  period,  a  small  pamphlet  against  the  use  of 
prayer,  which  had  circulated  amongst  the  inferior  ranks,  and 
had  made  no  small  impression,  being  artfully  composed.  To 

*  A  portrait  of  Leechman,  from  a  painting  by  W.  Millar,  very  charac 
teristic,  and  in  harmony  with  this  description,  is  prefixed  to  an  edition  of 
his  Sermons:  London,  2  vols.  8vo,  1789.  —  Er>. 


GLASGOW  PROFESSORS.  —  HUTCHESON.  59 

counteract  this  poison  Leechman  had  composed  and  published 
his  sermon  on  the  nature,  reasonableness,  and  advantages  of 
prayer ;  with  an  attempt  to  answer  the  objections  against  it, 
from  Matthew  xxvi.  41.  In  this  sermon,  though  admirably 
well  composed,  in  defence  of  prayer  as  a  duty  of  natural  relig 
ion,  the  author  had  forgot,  or  omitted  to  state,  the  obligations 
on  Christians  to  pray  in  the  name  of  Christ.  The  nature  of 
his  subject  did  not  lead  him  to  state  this  part  of  a  Christian's 
prayer,  and  perhaps  he  thought  that  the  inserting  anything 
relative  to  that  point  might  disgust  or  lessen  the  curiosity  of 
those  for  whose  conviction  he  had  published  the  sermon.  The 
fanatical  or  high-flying  clergy  in  the  presbytery  of  Glasgow 
took  advantage  of  this  omission,  and  instituted  an  inquiry 
into  the  heresy  contained  in  this  sermon  by  omission,  which 
lasted  with  much  theological  acrimony  on  the  part  of  the  in 
quirers  (who  were  chiefly  those  who  had  encouraged  Cambus- 
lang's  work,  as  it  was  called,  two  years  before),  till  it  was  final 
ly  settled  in  favor  of  the  Professor  by  the  General  Assembly, 
1744.*  Instead  of  raising  any  anxiety  among  the  students  in 
theology,  or  creating  any  suspicion  of  Dr.  Leechman's  ortho 
doxy,  this  fit  of  zeal  against  him  tended  much  to  spread  and 
establish  his  superior  character. 

I  attended  Hutcheson's  class  this  year  with  great  satisfac 
tion  and  improvement.  He  was  a  good-looking  man,  of  an 
engaging  countenance.  He  delivered  his  lectures  without 
notes,  walking  backwards  and  forwards  in  the  area  of  his 
room.  As  his  elocution  was  good,  and  his  voice  and  manner 
pleasing,  he  raised  the  attention  of  his  hearers  at  all  times ; 

*  Cambuslang  s  Work :  Revivals  in  the  Parish  of  Cambuslang  in  Lanark 
shire  in  the  year  1742.  They  were  the  occasion  of  abundant  controversy; 
but  the  fullest  account  of  them  will  be  found  in  Narrative  of  the  Extraor 
dinary  Work  of  the  Spirit  of  God  at  Cambuslang,  Kilsythy  cfc.,  written  by  Mr. 
James  Robe  and  others.  —  ED. 


60  GLASGOW  PROFESSORS.  —  SIMSON. 

and  when  the  subject  led  him  to  explain  and  enforce  the  moral 
virtues  and  duties,  he  displayed  a  fervent  and  persuasive  elo 
quence  which  was  irresistible.  Besides  the  lectures  he  gave 
through  the  week,  he,  every  Sunday  at  six  o'clock,  opened  his 
class-room  to  whoever  chose  to  attend,  when  he  delivered  a 
set  of  lectures  on  Grotius  de  veritate  Heligionis  Christiana, 
which,  though  learned  and  ingenious,  were  adapted  to  every 
capacity ;  for  on  that  evening  he  expected  to  be  attended,  not 
only  by  students,  but  by  many  of  the  people  of  the  city ;  and 
he  was  not  disappointed,  for  this  free  lecture  always  drew 
crowds  of  attendants. 

Besides  Hutcheson  and  Leechman,  there  were  at  that  pe 
riod  several  eminent  professors  in  that  university  ;  particularly 
Mr.  Robert  Simson,  the  great  mathematician,  and  Mr.  Alex 
ander  Dunlop,  the  Professor  of  Greek.  The  last,  besides  his 
eminence  as  a  Greek  scholar,  was  distinguished  by  his  strong 
good  sense  and  capacity  for  business ;  and  being  a  man  of  a 
leading  mind,  was  supposed,  with  the  aid  of  Hutcheson,  to 
direct  and  manage  all  the  affairs  of  the  University  (for  it  is  a 
wealthy  corporation,  and  has  much  business),  besides  the 
charge  of  presiding  over  literature,  and  maintaining  the  disci 
pline  of  the  College. 

One  difference  I  remarked  between  this  University  and 
that  of  Edinburgh,  where  I  had  been  bred,  which  was,  that 
although  at  that  time  there  appeared  to  be  a  marked  superi 
ority  in  the  best  scholars  and  most  diligent  students  of  Edin 
burgh,  yet  in  Glasgow  learning  seemed  to  be  an  object  of 
more  importance,  and  the  habit  of  application  was  much 
more  general.  Besides  the  instruction  I  received  from  Drs. 
Hutcheson  and  Leechman,  I  derived  much  pleasure,  as  well 
as  enlargement  of  skill  in  the  Greek  language,  from  Mr. 
Dunlop's  translations  and  criticisms  of  the  great  tragic  writers 
in  that  language.  I  likewise  attended  the  Professor  of  He- 


GLASGOW  SOCIETY.  61 

brew,  a  Mr.  Morthland,  who  was  master  of  his  business.  I 
had  neglected  that  branch  in  Edinburgh,  the  professor  being 
then  superannuated. 

In  the  second  week  I  was  in  Glasgow  I  went  to  the  dan 
cing  assembly  with  some  of  my  new  acquaintance,  and  was 
there  introduced  to  a  married  lady  who  claimed  kindred  with 
me,  her  mother's  name  being  Carlyle,  of  the  Limekiln  family. 
She  carried  me  home  to  sup  with  her  that  night,  with  a 
brother  of  hers,  two  years  younger  than  me,  and  some  other 
young  people.  This  was  the  commencement  of  an  intimate 
friendship  that  lasted  during  the  whole  of  the  lady's  life, 
which  was  four  or  five  and  twenty  years.  She  was  connected 
with  all  the  best  families  in  Glasgow  and  the  country  round. 
Her  husband  was  a  good  sort  of  man,  and  very  opulent ;  and 
as  they  had  no  children,  he  took  pleasure  in  her  exercising  a 
genteel  hospitality.  I  became  acquainted  with  all  the  best 
families  in  the  town  by  this  lady's  means ;  and  by  a  letter  I 
had  procured  from  my  friend  James  Edgar,  afterwards  a 
Commissioner  of  the  Customs,  I  also  soon  became  well  ac 
quainted  with  all  the  young  ladies  who  lived  in  the  College. 
He  had  studied  law  the  preceding  year  at  Glasgow,  under 
Professor  Hercules  Lindsay,  at  that  time  of  some  note.  On 
asking  him  for  a  letter  of  introduction  to  some  one  of  his  com 
panions,  he  gave  me  one  to  Miss  Mally  Campbell,  the 
daughter  of  the  Principal ;  and  when  I  seemed  surprised  at 
his  choice,  he  added  that  I  would  find  her  not  only  more 
beautiful  than  any  woman  there,  but  more  sensible  and 
friendly  than  all  the  professors  put  together,  and  much  more 
useful  to  me.  This  I  found  to  be  literally  true. 

The  city  of  Glasgow  at  this  time,  though  very  industrious, 
wealthy,  and  commercial,  was  far  inferior  to  what  it  after 
wards  became,  both  before  and  after  the  failure  of  the  Vir 
ginia  trade.  The  modes  of  life,  too,  and  manners,  were 


62  GLASGOW  SOCIETY. 

different  from  what  they  are  at  present.  Their  chief  branches 
were  the  tobacco  trade  with  the  American  colonies,  and  sugar 
and  rum  with  the  West  India.  There  were  not  manufac 
turers  sufficient,  either  there  or  at  Paisley,  to  supply  an 
outward-bound  cargo  for  Virginia.  For  this  purpose  they 
were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  Manchester.  Manufactures 
were  in  their  infancy.  About  this  time  the  inkle  manufactory 
was  first  begun  by  Ingram  &  Glasford,  and  was  shown  to 
strangers  as  a  great  curiosity.  But  the  merchants  had 
industry  and  stock,  and  the  habits  of  business,  and  were 
ready  to  seize  with  eagerness,  and  prosecute  with  vigor, 
every  new  object  in  commerce  or  manufactures  that  prom 
ised  success. 

Few  of  them  could  be  called  learned  merchants  ;  yet  there 
was  a  weekly  club,  of  which  a  Provost  Cochrane  was  the 
founder  and  a  leading  member,  in  which  their  express  design 
was  to  inquire  into  the  nature  and  principles  of  trade  in  all 
its  branches,  and  to  communicate  their  knowledge  and  views 
on  that  subject  to  each  other.  I  was  not  acquainted  with 
Provost  Cochrane  at  this  time,  but  I  observed  that  the  mem 
bers  of  this  society  had  the  highest  admiration  of  his  knowl 
edge  and  talents.  I  became  well  acquainted  with  him  twenty 
years  afterwards,  when  Drs.  Smith  and  Wight  were  members 
of  the  club,  and  was  made  sensible  that  too  much  could  not 
be  said  of  his  accurate  and  extensive  knowledge,  of  his  agree 
able  manners,  and  colloquial  eloquence.  Dr.  Smith  acknowl 
edged  his  obligations  to  this  gentleman's  information,  when  he 
was  collecting  materials  for  his  Wealth  of  Nations  ;  and  the 
junior  merchants  who  have  flourished  since  his  time,  and  ex 
tended  their  commerce  for  beyond  what  was  then  dreamt  of, 
confess,  with  respectful  remembrance,  that  it  was  Andrew 
Cochrane  who  first  opened  and  enlarged  their  views.* 

*  For  information  regarding  Cochrane,  Simson,  and  the  other  Glasgow 


GLASGOW   SOCIETY.  63 

It  was  not  long  before  I  was  well  established  in  close 
intimacy  with  many  of  my  fellow-students,  and  soon  felt  the 
superiority  of  an  education  in  the  College  of  Edinburgh ;  not 
in  point  of  knowledge,  or  acquirements  in  the  languages  or 
sciences,  but  in  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  a  certain  manner 
and  address  that  can  only  be  attained  in  the  capital.  It  must 
be  confessed  that  at  this  time  they  were  far  behind  in  Glas 
gow,  not  only  in  their  manner  of  living,  but  in  those  accom 
plishments  and  that  taste  that  belong  to  people  of  opulence, 
much  more  to  persons  of  education.  There  were  only  a  few 
families  of  ancient  citizens  who  pretended  to  be  gentlemen ; 
and  a  few  others,  who  were  recent  settlers  there,  who  had 
obtained  wealth  and  consideration  in  trade.  The  rest  were 
shopkeepers  and  mechanics,  or  successful  pedlers,  who  occu 
pied  large  warerooms  full  of  manufactures  of  all  sorts,  to 
furnish  a  cargo  to  Virginia.  It  was  usual  for  the  sons  of 
merchants  to  attend  the  College  for  one  or  two  years,  and  a 
few  of  them  completed  their  academical  education.  In  this 
respect  the  females  were^  still  worse  off,  for  at  that  period 
there  was  neither  a  teacher  of  French  nor  of  music  in  the 
town.  The  consequence  of  this  was  twofold  ;  first,  the  young 
ladies  were  entirely  without  accomplishments,  and  in  general 
had  nothing  to  recommend  them  but  good  looks  and  fine 
clothes,  for  their  manners  were  ungainly.  Secondly,  the  few 
who  were  distinguished  drew  all  the  young  men  of  sense  and 
taste  about  them ;  for,  being  void  of  frivolous  accomplish 
ments,  which  in  some  respects  make  all  women  equal,  they 
trusted  only  to  superior  understanding  and  wit,  to  natural 
elegance  and  unaffected  manners. 

There  never  was  but  one  concert  during  the  two  winters  I 

celebrities  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Glasgow  and 
its  Clubs,  by  Dr.  Strang,  and  to  the  Cochrane  Correspondence,  printed  in 
1836  for  the  Maitland  Club.  —  ED. 


64  GLASGOW  SOCIETY. 

was  at  Glasgow,  and  that  was  given  by  Walter  Scott,  Esq.,  of 
Harden,  who  was  himself  an  eminent  performer  on  the  violin ; 
and  his  band  of  assistants  consisted  of  two  dancing-school 
fiddlers  and  the  town-waits. 

The  manner  of  living,  too,  at  this  time,  was  but  coarse  and 
vulgar.  Very  few  of  the  wealthiest  gave  dinners  to  anybody 
but  English  riders,  or  their  own  relations  at  Christmas  holi 
days.  There  were  not  half  a  dozen  families  in  town  who  had 
men-servants ;  some  of  those  were  kept  by  the  professors  who 
had  boarders.  There  were  neither  postchaises  nor  hackney- 
coaches  in  the  town,  and  only  three  or  four  sedan-chairs  for 
carrying  midwives  about  in  the  night,  and  old  ladies  to 
church,  or  to  the  dancing  assemblies  once  a  fortnight. 

The  principal  merchants,  fatigued  with  the  morning's 
business,  took  an  early  dinner  with  their  families  at  home, 
and  then  resorted  to  the  coffee-house  or  tavern  to  read  the 
newspapers,  which  they  generally  did  in  companies  of  four  or 
five  in  separate  rooms,  over  a  bottle  of  claret  or  a  bowl  of 
punch.  But  they  never  stayed  supper,  but  always  went  home 
by  nine  o'clock,  without  company  or  further  amusement.  At 
last  an  arch  fellow  from  Dublin,  a  Mr.  Cockaine,  came  to  be 
master  of  the  chief  coffee-house,  who  seduced  them  gradually 
to  stay  supper  by  placing  a  few  nice  cold  things  at  first  on  the 
table,  as  relishers  to  the  wine,  till  he  gradually  led  them  on 
to  bespeak  fine  hot  suppers,  and  to  remain  till  midnight. 

There  was  an  order  of  women  at  that  time  in  Glasgow, 
who,  being  either  young  widows  not  wealthy,  or  young  women 
unprovided  for,  were  set  up  in  small  grocery-shops  in  various 
parts  of  the  town,  and  generally  were  protected  and  counte 
nanced  by  some  creditable  merchant.  In  their  back-shops 
much  time  and  money  were  consumed  ;  for  it  being  customary 
then  to  drink  drams  and  white  wine  in  the  forenoon,  the 
tipplers  resorted  much  to  those  shops,  where  there  were  bed- 


GLASGOW  CLUBS.  Go 

rooms ;  and  the  patron,  with  his  friends,  frequently  passed 
the  evening  there  also,  as  taverns  were  not  frequented  by  per 
sons  who  affected  characters  of  strict  decency. 

I  was  admitted  a  member  of  two  clubs,  one  entirely  literary, 
which  was  held  in  the  porter's  lodge  at  the  College,  and  where 
we  criticised  books  and  wrote  abridgments  of  them,  with 
critical  essays ;  and  to  this  society  we  submitted  the  dis 
courses  which  we  were  to  deliver  in  the  Divinity  Hall  in  our 
turns,  when  we  were  appointed  by  the  professor.  The  other 
club  met  in  Mr.  Dugald's  tavern  near  the  Cross,  weekly,  and 
admitted  a  mixture  of  young  gentlemen,  who  were  not  in 
tended  for  the  study  of  theology.  There  met  there  John 
Bradefoot,  afterwards  minister  of  Dunsire ;  James  Leslie,  of 
Kilmarnock  ;  John  Robertson,  of  Dunblane ;  James  Hamil 
ton,  of  Paisley  ;  and  Robert  Lawson,  of  London  Wall.  There 
also  came,  some  young  merchants,  such  as  Robin  Bogle,  my 
relation ;  James  and  George  Anderson,  William  Sellers  and 
Robin  Craig.  Here  we  drank  a  little  punch  after  our  beef 
steaks  and  pancakes,  and  the  expense  never  exceeded  Is.  Gd'., 
seldom  Is. 

Our  conversation  was  almost  entirely  literary ;  and  we 
were  of  such  good  fame,  that  some  ministers  of  the  neighbor 
hood,  when  occasionally  in  Glasgow,  frequented  our  club. 
Hyndman  had  been  twice  introduced  by  members  ;  and  being 
at  that  time  passing  his  trials  as  a  probationer  before  that 
presbytery  in  which  his  native  town  of  Greenock  lay,  he  had 
become  well  acquainted  with  Mr.  Robert  Paton,  minister  of 
Renfrew,  who,  though  a  man  well  accomplished  and  of  liberal 
sentiments,  was  too  much  a  man  of  worth  and  principle  not  to 
be  offended  by  licentious  manners  in  students  of  divinity. 
Hyndman,  by  way  of  gaining  favor  with  this  man.  took 
occasion  to  hint  to  him  to  advise  his  nephew,  Robert  Lawson, 
not  to  frequent  our  club,  as  it  admitted  and  encouraged  con- 

E 


G6  GLASGOW  CLUBS. 

versation  not  suitable  to  the  profession  we  were  to  follow. 
He  mentioned  two  instances,  one  of  which  Lawson  said  was 
false,  and  the  other  disguised  by  exaggeration.  Lawson,  who 
was  a  lad  of  pure  morals,  told  me  this  ;  and  as  the  best  anti 
dote  to  this  injurious  impression,  which  had  been  made  chiefly 
against  me,  I  begged  him  to  let  his  uncle  know  that  I  would 
accept  of  the  invitation  he  had  given  through  him,  to  pass  a 
night  or  two  with  him  at  Renfrew.  "We  accordingly  went 
next  Saturday,  and  met  with  a  gracious  reception,  and  stayed 
all  next  day  and  heard  him  preach,  at  which  he  was  thought 
to  excel  (though  he  was  almost  the  only  person  who  read  in 
those  days,  in  which  he  truly  excelled)  ;  and  being  a  very 
handsome  man,  his  delivery  much  enhanced  the  value  of  his 
composition.  We  heard  him  read  another  sermon  at  night  in 
his  study,  with  much  satisfaction,  as  he  told  us  it  was  one  of 
his  best,  and  was  a  good  model ;  to  this  we  respectfully  as 
sented,  and  the  good  man  was  pleased.  '  When  we  took  leave 
on  Monday  morning,  he  politely  requested  another  visit,  and 
said  to  me,  with  a  smile,  he  was  now  fortified  against  tale 
bearers.  These  societies  contributed  much  to  our  improve 
ment;  and  as  moderation  and  early  hours  were  inviolable 
rules  of  both  institutions,  they  served  to  open  and  enlarge 
our  minds. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  session,  however,  I  was  introduced 
to  a  club  which  gave  me  much  more  satisfaction,  —  I  mean 
that  of  Mr.  Robert  Simson,  the  celebrated  Professor  of  Mathe 
matics.  Mr.  Robert  Dick,  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy, 
an  old  friend  of  my  father's,  one  evening  after  I  had  dined 
with  him,  said  he  was  going  to  Mr.  Robert's  club,  and  if  I  had 
a  mind,  he  would  take  me  there  and  introduce  me.  I  readily 
accepted  the  honor.  I  had  been  introduced  to  Mr.  Robert 
before  in  the  College  court,  for  he  was  extremely  courteous, 
and  showed  civility  to  every  student  who  fell  in  his  way. 


ROBEET  SIMSON.  67 

Though  I  was  not  attending  any  of  his  classes,  having  at 
tended  M'Laurin  in  Edinburgh  for  three  sessions,  he  received 
me  with  great  kindness  ;  and  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  please 
him  so  much,  that  he  asked  me  to  be  a  member  of  his  Friday's 
club,  which  I  readily  agreed  to.  Mr.  Simson,  though  a  great 
humorist,  who  had  a  very  particular  way  of  living,  was  well- 
bred  and  complaisant,  was  a  comely  man,  of  a  good  size,  and 
had  a  very  prepossessing  countenance.  He  lived  entirely  at 
the  small  tavern  opposite  the  College  gate,  kept  by  a  Mrs. 
Millar.  He  breakfasted,  dined,  and  supped  there,  and  almost 
never  accepted  of  any  invitations  to  dinner,  and  paid  no  visits, 
but  to  illustrious  or  learned  strangers,  who  wished  to  see  the 
University ;  on  such  occasions  he  was  always  the  cicerone. 
He  showed  the  curiosities  of  the  College,  which  consisted  of  a 
few  manuscripts  and  a  large  collection  of  Roman  antiquities, 
from  Severus's  Wall  or  Graham's  Dyke,  in  the  neighborhood, 
with  a  display  of  much  knowledge  and  taste.  He  was  par 
ticularly  averse  to  the  company  of  ladies,  and,  except  one  day 
in  the  year,  when  he  drank  tea  at  Principal  Campbell's,  and 
conversed  with  gayety  and  ease  with  his  daughter  Mally,  who 
was  always  his  first  toast,  he  was  never  in  company  with 
them.  It  was  said  to  have  been  otherwise  with  him  in  his 
youth,  and  that  he  had  been  much  attached  to  one  lady,  to 
whom  he  had  made  proposals,  but  on  her  refusing  him  he 
became  disgusted  with  the  sex.  The  lady  was  dead  before  I 
became  acquainted  with  the  family,  but  her  husband  I  knew, 
and  must  confess  that  in  her  choice  the  lady  had  preferred  a 
satyr  to  Hyperion. 

Mr.  Simson  almost  never  left  the  bounds  of  the  College, 
having  a  large  garden  to  walk  in,  unless  it  was  on  Saturday, 
when,  with  two  chosen  companions,  he  always  walked  into  the 
country,  but  no  further  than  the  village  of  Anderston,  one  mile 
off,  where  he  had  a  dinner  bespoke,  and  where  he  always 


68  SIMSON.  —  MATHEW   STEWART. 

treated  the  company,  not  only  when  he  had  no  other  than  his 
two  humble  attendants,  but  when  he  casually  added  one  or  two 
more,  which  happened  twice  to  myself.  If  any  of  the  club 
met  him  on  Saturday  night  at  his  hotel,  he  took  it  very  kind, 
for  he  was  in  good  spirits,  though  fatigued  Avith  the  company 
of  his  satellites,  and  revived  on  the  sight  of  a  fresh  companion 
or  two  for  the  evening.  He  was  of  a  mild  temper  and  an 
engaging  demeanor,  and  was  master  of  all  knowledge,  even  of 
theology,  which  he  told  us  he  had  learned  by  being  one  year 
amanuensis  to  his  uncle,  the  Professor  of  Divinity.  His 
knowledge  he  delivered  in  an  easy,  colloquial  style,  with  the 
simplicity  of  a  child,  and  without  the  least  symptom  of  self- 
sufficiency  or  arrogance. 

His  club  at  that  time  consisted  chiefly  of  Hercules  Lindsay, 
Teacher  of  Law,  who  was  talkative  and  assuming ;  of  James 
Moore,  Professor  of  Greek  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Dunlop,  a 
very  lively  and  witty  man,  and  a  famous  Grecian,  but  a  more 
famous  punster ;  Mr.  Dick,  Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy, 
a  very  worthy  man,  and  of  an  agreeable  temper;  and  Mr. 
James  Purdie,  the  rector  of  the  grammar-school,  who  had  not 
much  to  recommend  him  but  his  being  an  adept  in  grammar. 
Having  been  asked  to  see  a  famous  comet  that  appeared  this 
winter  or  the  following,  through  Professor  Dick's  telescope, 
which  was  the  best  in  the  College  at  that  time,  when  Mr.  Pur- 
die  retired  from  taking  his  view  of  it,  he  turned  to  Mr.  Sim- 
son,  and  said,  "  Mr.  Robert,  I  believe  it  is  hie  or  hcec  cometa, 
a  comet."  To  settle  the  gender  of  the  Latin  was  all  he 
thought  of  this  great  and  uncommon  phenomenon  of  nature. 

Mr.  Simson's  most  constant  attendant,  however,  and  great 
est  favorite,  was  his  own  scholar,  Mr.  Mathew  Stewart,  after 
wards  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  College  of  Edinburgh, 
much  celebrated  for  his  profound  knowledge  in  that  science. 
During  the  course  of  summer  he  was  ordained  minister  of 


HUTCHESON.  69 

Roseneath,  but  resided  during  the  winter  in  Glasgow  College. 
He  was  of  an  amiable  disposition  and  of  a  most  ingenuous 
mind,  and  was  highly  valued  in  the  society  of  Glasgow  Uni 
versity  ;  but  when  he  was  preferred  to  a  chair  in  Edinburgh, 
being  of  diminutive  stature  and  of  an  ordinary  appearance, 
and  having  withal  an  embarrassed  elocution,  he  was  not  able  to 
bring  himself  into  good  company ;  and  being  left  out  of  the 
society  of  those  who  should  have  seen  through  the  shell,  and 
put  a  due  value  on  the  kernel,  he  fell  into  company  of  an  infe 
rior  sort,  and  adopted  their  habits  with  too  great  facility. 

With  this  club,  and  an  accidental  stranger  at  times,  the 
great  Mr.  Robert  Simson  relaxed  his  mind  every  evening  from 
the  severe  studies  of  the  day ;  for  though  there  was  properly 
but  one  club  night  in  the  week,  yet,  as  he  never  failed  to  be 
there,  some  one  or  two  commonly  attended  him,  or  at  least  one 
of  the  two  minions  whom  he  could  command  at  any  time,  as 
he  paid  their  reckoning. 

The  fame  of  Mr.  Hutcheson  had  filled  the  College  with  stu 
dents  of  philosophy,  and  Leechman's  high  character  brought 
all  the  students  of  divinity  from  the  western  provinces,  as 
Hutcheson  attracted  the  Irish.  There  were  sundry  young 
gentlemen  from  Ireland,  with  their  tutors,  one  of  whom  was 
Archibald  M'Laine,  pastor  at  the  Hague,  the  celebrated  trans 
lator  of  Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History  (who  had  himself 
been  bred  at  Glasgow  College).  With  him  I  became  better 
acquainted  next  session,  and  I  have  often  regretted  since  that 
it  has  never  been  my  lot  to  meet  him  during  the  many  times 
I  have  been  for  months  in  London,  as  his  enlightened  mind, 
engaging  manners,  and  animated  conversation  gave  reason  to 
hope  for  excellent  fruit  when  he  arrived  at  maturity.  There 
were  of  young  men  of  fashion  attending  the  College,  Walter 

Lord  Blantyre,  who  died  young ;  Sir Kennedy,  and  his 

brother  David,  afterwards  Lord  Cassilis ;  Walter  Scott  of 


70  FELLOW-STUDENTS. 

Harden ;  James  Murray  of  Broughton ;  and  Dunbar  Hamil 
ton,  afterwards  Earl  of  Selkirk.  The  education  of  this  last 
gentleman  had  been  marred  at  an  English  academy  in  York 
shire.  When  his  father,  the  Hon.  Basil  Hamilton,  died,  he 
came  to  Glasgow,  but  finding  that  he  was  so  ill  founded  in 
Latin  as  to  be  unfit  to  attend  a  public  class,  he  had  resolution 
enough,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  to  pass  seven  or  eight  hours  a 
day  with  Purdie  the  grammarian  for  the  greater  part  of  two 
years,  when,  having  acquired  Latin,  he  took  James  Moore,  the 
Greek  scholar,  for  his  private  tutor,  fitted  up  rooms  for  him 
self  in  the  College,  and  lived  there  with  Moore  in  the  most 
retired  manner,  visiting  nobody  but  Miss  M.  Campbell,  and 
letting  nobody  in  to  him  but  Lord  Blantyre  and  myself,  as  I 
was  his  distant  relation.  In  this  manner  he  lived  for  ten 
years,  hardly  leaving  the  College  for  a  few  weeks  in  summer, 
till  he  had  acquired  the  ancient  tongues  in  perfection,  and  was 
master  of  ancient  philosophy :  the  effect  of  which  was,  that 
with  much  rectitude  and  good  intention,  and  some  talent,  he 
came  into  the  world  more  fit  to  be  a  Professor  than  an  Earl. 

There  was  one  advantage  I  derived  from  my  Edinburgh 
education,  which  set  me  up  a  little  in  the  eyes  of  my  equals, 
though  I  soon  tired  of  the  employment.  Professor  Leechman 
devoted  one  evening  every  week  from  five  to  eight  to  conver 
sation  with  his  students,  who  assembled  on  Fridays  about  six 
or  seven  together,  and  were  first  received  in  the  Professor's 
own  library.  But  Dr.  Leechman  was  not  able  to  carry  on 
common  conversation,  and  when  he  spoke  at  all,  it  was  a  short 
lecture.  This  was  therefore  a  very  dull  meeting,  and  every 
body  longed  to  be  called  in  to  tea  with  Mrs.  Leechman,  whose 
talent  being  different  from  that  of  her  husband,  she  was  able 
to  maintain  a  continued  conversation  on  plays,  novels,  poetry, 
and  the  fashions.  The  rest  of  the  lads  being  for  the  most  part 
raw  and  awkward,  after  trying  it  once  in  their  turns,  they 


GLASGOW   PROFESSORS.  71 

became  silent,  and  the  dialogue  rested  between  the  lady  and 
me.  When  she  observed  this,  she  requested  me  to  attend  as 
her  assistant  every  night.  I  did  so  for  a  little  while,  but  it 
became  too  intolerable  not  to  be  soon  given  up. 

What  Dr.  Leechman  wanted  in  the  talent  for  conversation 
was  fully  compensated  by  his  ability  as  a  Professor,  for  in  the 
chair  he  shone  with  great  lustre.  It  was  owing  to  Hutcheson 
and  him  that  a  new  school  was  formed  in  the  western  prov 
inces  of  Scotland,  where  the  clergy  till  that  period  were  nar 
row  and  bigoted,  and  had  never  ventured  to  range  in  their 
mind  beyond  the  bounds  of  strict  orthodoxy.  For  though  nei 
ther  of  these  professors  taught  any  heresy,  yet  they  opened 
and  enlarged  the  minds  of  the  students,  which  soon  gave  them 
a  turn  for  free  inquiry ;  the  result  of  which  was,  candor  and 
liberality  of  sentiment.  From  experience,  this  freedom  of 
thought  was  not  found  so  dangerous  as  might  at  first  be  appre 
hended  ;  for  though  the  daring  youth  made  excursions  into  the 
unbounded  regions  of  metaphysical  perplexity,  yet  all  the  judi 
cious  soon  returned  to  the  lower  sphere  of  long-established 
truths,  which  they  found  not  only  more  subservient  to  the  good 
order  of  society,  but  necessary  to  fix  their  own  minds  in  some 
degree  of  stability. 

Hutcheson  was  a  great  admirer  of  Shaftesbury,  and  adopted 
much  of  his  writings  into  his  lectures ;  and,  to  recommend  him 
more  to  his  students,  was  at  great  pains  in  private  to  prove 
that  the  noble  moralist  was  no  enemy  to  the  Christian  relig 
ion  ;  but  that  all  appearances  of  that  kind,  which  are  very 
numerous  in  his  works,  flowed  only  from  an  excess  of  gener 
ous  indignation  against  the  fanatics  of  Charles  I.'s  reign. 
Leechman  and  he  both  were  supposed  to  lean  to  Socinianism. 
Men  of  sense,  however,  soon  perceived  that  it  was  an  arduous 
task  to  defend  Christianity  on  that  ground,  and  were  glad  to 
adopt  more  common  and  vulgar  principles,  which  were  well 


72  LEECHMAN  AND  HUTCHESON. 

compacted  together  in  a  uniform  system,  which  it  was  not  easy 
to  demolish. 

Leechman's  manner  of  teaching  theology  was  excellent,  and 
I  found  my  sphere  of  knowledge  in  that  science  greatly  en 
larged,  though  I  had  attended  the  Professor  in  Edinburgh 
pretty  closely  for  two  or  three  years ;  but  he  copied  the  Dutch 
divines,  and,  had  he  lived,  would  have  taken  twenty  years  to 
have  gone  through  the  system  which  Dr.  Leechman  accom 
plished  in  two  years,  besides  giving  us  admirable  lectures  on 
the  Gospels,  on  the  proofs  of  Christianity,  and  the  art  of  com 
position.  If  there  was  any  defect,  it  was  in  the  small  number 
of  exercises  prescribed  to  the  students,  for  one  discourse  in  a 
session  was  by  no  means  sufficient  to  produce  a  habit  of  com 
position:  our  literary  clubs,  in  some  degree,  supplied  that 
defect. 

I  had  been  called  home  to  Prestonpans  in  January  to  see 
my  brother  James,  who  was  then  dying  of  a  consumption ;  he 
was  in  his  nineteenth  year,  and  died  in  March.  He  had  been 
sent  to  London  several  years  before  to  be  bred  to  business, 
but  an  accident  threw  him  into  bad  health,  and  he  had  been 
at  home  for  two  years  or  more.  He  was  not  a  lad  of  parts, 
but  remarkably  handsome  and  agreeable.  I  found  him  per 
fectly  reconciled  to  a  premature  death. 

I  had  left  my  original  companions  at  Edinburgh,  who  had 
every  kind  of  merit  to  create  attachment ;  but  I  found  a  few 
in  Glasgow  University  who  in  some  degree  supplied  their 
places,  who  were  worthy  and  able  young  men,  and  afterwards 
filled  their  ranks  in  society  with  credit,  though  they  had  nei 
ther  the  strength  nor  the  polish  of  the  Blairs,  and  Robertsons, 
and  Fergusons,  and  Homes.  Near  the  end  of  the  session  I 
made  an  acquaintance  with  a  young  gentleman,  which  next 
year  grew  into  the  strictest  friendship.  This  was  William 
Sellar,  then  an  apprentice  in  his  third  or  fourth  year  with  the 


THE   OSWALDS.  73 

Oswalds,  at  that  time  among  the  most  eminent  merchants  in 
Glasgow.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Writer  to  the  Signet  in 
Edinburgh,  had  been  two  or  three  years  at  the  College  there, 
was  handsome  and  well-bred,  and  of  very  agreeable  manners. 
Though  not  learned,  he  had  a  philosophical  and  observing 
mind,  and  was  shrewd  in  discerning  characters.  This  young 
man,  my  junior  by  a  year  or  two,  attached  himself  to  me  on 
our  first  acquaintance,  and  I  soon  repaid  him  with  my  affec 
tion,  for  I  found  that  the  qualities  of  his  heart  were  not  in 
ferior  to  those  of  his  understanding.  He  was  daily  conver 
sant  with  the  principal  merchants,  as  I  was  with  the  students 
and  members  of  the  University,  on  whom  our  observations 
were  a  great  source  of  instructive  entertainment.  He  had 
the  celebrated  Jenny  Fall  (afterwards  Lady  Anstruther),  a 
coquette  and  a  beauty,  for  months  together  in  the  house  with 
him ;  and  as  his  person  and  manner  drew  the  marked  atten 
tion  of  the  ladies,  he  derived  considerable  improvement  from 
the  constant  intercourse  with  this  young  lady  and  her  com 
panions,  for  she  was  lively  and  clever,  no  less  than  beautiful. 
He  had  also  the  benefit  of  Mr.  Richard  Oswald's  conversation, 
a  man  afterwards  so  much  celebrated  as  to  be  employed  by 
Government  in  settling  the  peace  of  Paris  in  17 sK  This 
gentleman  was  much  confined  to  the  house  by  sore  eyes,  and 
yet  was  able  to  pass  his  time  almost  entirely  in  reading,  and 
becoming  a  very  learned  and  intelligent  merchant ;  and  hav 
ing  acquired  some  thousand  pounds  by  being  prize  agent  to 
his  cousins,  whose  privateer  had  taken  a  prize  worth  £15,000, 
he  a  few  years  after  this  period  established  himself  in  London, 
and  acquired  a  great  fortune,  which,  having  no  children  of 
his  own,  he  left  to  the  grandson  of  his  brother,  a  respectable 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  ;  and  thus  founded  that 
family  of  Oswalds,  who  continue  to  flourish  in  the  shire  of 
Ayr. 

4 


74  GLASGOW  PROFESSORS  AND  STUDENTS. 

I  lived  this  winter  in  the  same  house  with  Dr.  Robert 
Hamilton,  Professor  of  Anatomy,  an  ingenious  and  well-bred 
man ;  but  with  him  I  had  little  intercourse,  except  at  break 
fast  now  and  then,  for  he  always  dined  abroad.  He  had  a 
younger  brother,  a  student  of  divinity,  afterwards  his  father's 
successor  at  Bothwell,  who  was  vain  and  showy,  but  who  ex 
posed  himself  very  much  through  a  desire  of  distinction.  He 
was  a  relation  of  Mrs.  Leechman's,  and  it  had  been  hinted  to 
him  that  the  Professor  expected  a  remarkable  discourse  from 
him.  He  accordingly  delivered  one  which  gave  universal 
satisfaction,  and  was  much  extolled  by  the  Professor.  But, 
very  unfortunately  for  Hamilton,  half  a  dozen  of  students,  in 
going  down  a  street,  resorted  to  a  bookseller's  shop,  where  one 
of  them,  taking  a  volume  from  a  shelf,  was  struck,  on  opening 
the  book,  to  find  the  first  sermon  from  the  text  he  had  just 
heard  preached  upon.  He  read  on,  and  found  it  was  ver 
batim  from  beginning  to  end  what  he  had  heard  in  the  hall. 
He  showed  it  to  his  companions,  who  laughed  heartily,  and 
spread  the  story  all  over  the  town  before  night,  —  not  soon 
enough  to  prevent  the  vainglorious  orator  from  circulating  two 
fine  copies  of  it,  one  among  the  ladies  in  the  College,  and 
another  in  the  town.  What  aggravated  the  folly  and  impru 
dence  of  this  young  man  was,  that  he  was  by  no  means  de 
ficient  in  parts,  of  which  he  gave  us  sundry  specimens.  His 
cousin  and  namesake,  James  Hamilton,  afterwards  minister  of 
Paisley,  was  much  ashamed  of  him,  and  being  a  much  more 
sterling  man,  was  able  to  keep  down  his  vanity  ever  after. 
He  had  submitted  his  manuscript  to  the  club,  and  two  or  three 
criticisms  had  been  made  on  it,  but  he  would  alter  nothing. 
After  Dr.  Robert  Hamilton's  death,  which  was  premature,  a 
younger  brother  succeeded  him  in  the  anatomical  chair,  who 
was  very  able.  He  dying  young  also,  his  son  was  advanced, 
who  was  said  to  have  surpassed  all  his  predecessors  in  ability. 


GLASGOW  PROFESSOES  AND  STUDENTS.  75 

They  were  descended  from  the  family  of  Hamiltons  of  Pres 
ton,  a  very  ancient  branch  of  Duke  Hamilton's  family. 

Dr.  Johnstone,  who  was  said  to  be  very  able,  was  at  this 
time  Professor  of  Medicine,  but  he  was  very  old,  and  died 
this  year ;  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  William  Cullen,  who 
had  been  settled  at  Hamilton.  In  those  days  there  were  but 
few  students  of  physic  in  Glasgow  University.  Dr.  Cullen, 
and  his  successor  Dr.  Black,  with  the  younger  Hamiltons, 
brought  the  school  of  medicine  more  into  repute  there. 

In  the  month  of  March  or  April  this  year,  having  gone 
down  with  a  merchant  to  visit  New  Port-Glasgow,  as  our 
dinner  was  preparing  at  the  inn,  we  were  alarmed  with  the 
howling  and  weeping  of  half  a  dozen  of  women  in  the  kitchen, 
which  was  so  loud  and  lasting  that  I  went  to  see  what  was 
the  matter,  when,  after  some  time,  I  learnt  from  the  calmest 
among  them  that  a  pedler  had  left  a  copy  of  Peden's  Prophe 
cies  that  morning,  which  having  read  part  of,  they  found  that 
he  had  predicted  woes  of  every  kind  to  the  people  of  Scot 
land  ;  and  in  particular  that  Clyde  would  run  with  blood  in 
the  year  1744,  which  now  being  some  months  advanced,  they 
believed  that  their  destruction  was  at  hand.  I  was  puzzled 
how  to  pacify  them,  but  calling  for  the  book,  I  found  that  the 
passage  which  had  terrified  them  was  contained  in  the  forty- 
fourth  paragraph,  without  any  allusion  whatever  to  the  year ; 
and  by  this  means  I  quieted  their  lamentations.  Had  the  in 
tended  expedition  of  Mareschal  Saxe  been  carried  into  execu 
tion  in  that  year,  as  was  intended,  their  fears  might  have  been 
realized. 

Though  the  theological  lectures  closed  in  the  beginning  of 
May,  on  account  of  some  accidental  circumstances,  I  did  not 
get  to  my  father's  till  the  middle  of  that  month.  My  father's 
wish  was,  that  I  should  pass  through  my  trials  to  be  admitted 
a  probationer  in  summer  1745,  and  leave  nothing  undone  but 


76  CLERICAL  TOUR. 

the  finishing  forms,  when  I  returned  in  1746  from  a  foreign 
Protestant  university,  where  I  was  bound  to  go  by  the  terms 
of  the  exhibition  I  held.  I  was  therefore  to  spend  a  part  of 
this  summer,  1744,  in  visiting  the  clergy  of  the  presbytery  of 
Haddington,  as  the  forms  required  that  I  should  perform  that 
duty  before  I  was  admitted  to  trials. 

I  made  my  tour  accordingly  early  in  summer,  and  shall 
give  a  short  specimen  of  my  reception  and  the  characters  I 
met  with.  I  first  passed  a  day  at  Aberlady,  where  Mr.  An 
drew  Dickson  was  then  minister,  the  father  of  Adam  Dickson, 
the  author  of  many  excellent  works  on  agriculture.  Mr. 
Dickson  was  a  well-bred  formal  old  man,  and  was  reckoned 
a  good  preacher,  though  lame  enough  in  the  article  of  knowl 
edge,  or  indeed  in  discernment.  Among  the  first  questions  he 
put  to  me  was,  "  Had  I  read  the  famous  pamphlet,  Christi 
anity  not  founded  on  Argument  ?"  I  answered  that  I  had. 
He  replied  that  certainly  that  elaborate  work  was  the  ablest 
defence  of  our  holy  religion  that  had  been  published  in  our 
times  ;  and  that  the  author  of  it,  who  was  unknown  to  him, 
deserved  the  highest  praise.  I  looked  surprised,  and  was 
going  to  make  him  an  answer  according  to  my  opinion,  which 
was  that  it  was  the  shrewdest  attack  that  ever  had  been 
made  on  Christianity.  But  his  son  observed  me,  and  broke 
in  by  saying  that  he  had  had  some  disputes  with  his  father  on 
the  subject,  but  now  yielded,  and  had  come  in  to  his  opinion  : 
I  only  subjoined,  that  whoever  saw  it  in  that  light  must  sub 
scribe  to  its  superiority.  The  old  gentleman  was  pleased,  and 
went  on  descanting  on  the  great  merit  of  this  new  proof  of 
revealed  religion,  which  was  quite  unanswerable.  Having 
settled  that  point,  there  was  no  danger  of  my  differing  from 
him  in  any  other  of  his  notions. 

Next  day  I  proceeded  to  Dirleton,  the  neighboring  parish, 
where  Mr.  James  Glen  was  the  incumbent.  This  was  a  man 


CLEKICAL   TOUR.  77 

of  middle  age,  fat  and  unwieldy,  good-natured  and  open- 
hearted,  very  social,  though  quick-tempered  and  jealous.  He 
was  a  great  master  of  the  Deistical  controversy,  had  read  all 
the  books,  and  never  stopped,  for  it  was  his  first  topic  with  me, 
till  he  completely  refuted  Christianity  not  founded  on  Argu 
ment,  which  he  said  was  truly  very  insidious.  There  was  not 
much  time,  however,  this  day  for  theology,  as  it  happened  to 
be  his  cherry  feast.  There  being  many  fine  trees  of  that  fruit 
in  his  garden,  when  they  were  fully  ripe  it  was  his  custom  to 
invite  some  of  his  neighbors  and  their  families  to  pass  the  day 
with  him  and  his  daughters,  and  the  only  son  then  at  home, 
Mr.  Alexander  Glen,  who  was  a  student,  and  two  years  my 
junior.  We  were  a  very  large  company,  among  whom  were 
Congalton  of  that  Ilk,  a  very  singular  gentleman,  of  very  good 
parts,  and  extremely  promising  when  he  passed  advocate,  but 
who  had  become  a  drunken  laird,  though  the  brilliancy  of  his 
wit  frequently  broke  through  the  cloud.  There  were  likewise 
four  Miss  Hepburns  of  Beanston,  who  were  young,  handsome, 
and  gay.  The  old  people  dispersed  not  long  after  dinner,  and 
went  their  several  ways ;  Congalton  and  his  swaggering  blades 
went  to  the  village  changehouse,  and  remained  there  all  night. 
There  not  being  lodging  in  the  house  for  us  all,  the  young 
men  remained  as  late  as  they  could  in  the  parlor,  and  then 
had  mattresses  brought  in  to  sleep  awhile  upon. 

When  I  wished  to  depart  next  day  with  the  rest  of  the 
company,  the  old  man  protested  against  that,  for  we  had  not 
yet  sufficiently  settled  the  Deistical  controversy,  and  the  foun 
dations  of  moral  sentiment.  I  consented,  and  as  his  daughters 
had  detained  two  Misses  Hepburns,  I  passed  the  day  very 
well  between  disputing  with  my  landlord  and  walking  about 
and  philandering  with  the  ladies.  When  I  came  to  leave  him 
after  breakfast  the  next  day,  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
he  would  part  with  me,  and  not  till  after  he  had  taken  my 


78  CLERICAL  TOUR. 

solemn  promise  to  come  soon  back,  as  I  was  the  only  friend 
he  had  left  in  the  world.  I  at  last  escaped,  after  he  had  shed 
a  flood  of  tears.  I  was  uneasy,  and  asked  afterwards  if  he 
was  not  a  very  solitary  man  :  "  No,"  they  said,  "  but  he  was 
of  a  jealous  temper,  and  thought  he  was  hated,  if  he  was  not 
resorted  to  more  than  was  possible." 

The  next  clergyman,  Mr.  George  Murray  of  North  Ber 
wick,  was  in  appearance  quite  the  opposite  of  Mr.  Glen,  for 
he  was  a  dry,  withered  stick,  and  as  cold  and  repulsive  in  his 
manner  as  the  other  was  kind  and  inviting ;  but  he  was  not 
the  less  to  be  depended  on  for  that,  for  he  was  very  worthy 
and  sensible,  though,  at  the  age  of  fifty,  as  torpid  in  mind  as 
in  body.  His  wife,  however,  of  the  name  of  Reid,  the  former 
minister's  daughter,  by  whose  interest  he  got  the  church,  was 
as  swift  to  speak  as  he  was  slow ;  and  as  he  never  interrupted 
her,  she  kept  up  the  conversation,  such  as  it  was,  without 
ceasing,  except  that  her  household  affairs  took  her  sometimes 
out  of  the  room,  when  he  began  some  metaphysical  argument, 
but  dropped  it  the  moment  she  appeared,  for  he  said  Anny 
did  not  like  those  subjects.  Worn  out,  however,  with  the  fa 
tigue  of  the  cherry  feast,  I  longed  to  be  in  bed,  and  took  the 
first  opportunity  of  a  cessation  in  Anny's  clapper  to  request  to 
be  shown  to  my  room  :  this  was  complied  with  about  eleven  ; 
but  the  worthy  man  accompanied  me,  and  being  at  last  safe 
and  at,  liberty,  he  began  a  conversation  on  liberty  and  neces 
sity,  and  the  foundation  of  morals,  and  the  Deistical  contro 
versy,  that  lasted  till  two  in  the  morning.  I  got  away  time 
enough  next  day  to  reach  Haddington  before  dinner,  having 
passed  by  Athelstancford,  where  the  minister,  Mr.  Robert 
Blair,  author  of  The  Grave,  was  said  to  be  dying  slowly  ;  or, 
at  any  rate,  was  so  austere  and  void  of  urbanity  as  to  make 
him  quite  disagreeable  to  young  people.  His  wife,  who  was 
in  every  respect  the  opposite  (a  sister  of  Sheriff  Law),  was 


CLERICAL   TOUR.  79 

frank  and  open,  and  uncommonly  handsome ;  yet,  even  with 
her  allurements  and  his  acknowledged  ability,  his  house  was 
unfrequented.  I  passed  on  to  Haddington,  and  dined  with 
Mr.  Edward  Stedman,  a  man  of  first-rate  sense  and  ability, 
and  the  leader  of  the  presbytery.  We  called  on  his  father-in- 
law,  Mr.  Patrick  Wilkie,  who  had  as  little  desire  to  examine 
young  men  as  he  had  capacity  to  judge  of  their  proficiency, 
so  that  I  had  only  to  pay  my  compliments  and  pass  an  hour 
or  two  with  Stedman,  whom  I  knew  well  before,  and  who, 
with  the  sombre  constrained  air  of  a  Jesuit  or  an  old  Cove 
nanter,  had  an  enlightened  and  ardent  mind,  and  compre 
hended  all  things  human  and  divine.  From  him  I  went  early 
in  the  evening  to  Mr.  Barclay's  at  Moreham,  a  good  sensible 
man,  but  with  not  many  words  or  topics  of  conversation,  for 
he  was  a  great  mathematician  :  with  the  help  of  his  wife  and 
daughter,  however,  we  made  shift  to  spend  the  evening,  and 
retired  at  an  early  hour. 

I  passed  on  next  forenoon  to  Garvald,  where  his  son-in- 
law,  Mr.  Archibald  Blair,  brother  of  Mr.  Robert,  lived.  He 
seemed  as  torpid  as  George  Murray,  and  not  more  enlight 
ened  than  Patrick  Wilkie.  He  conversed  none.  As  we 
walked  out  before  dinner  to  see  the  views,  which  were  not 
remarkable,  I  thought  I  might  try  to  examine  him,  and  put  a 
question  to  him  as  we  entered  the  churchyard,  which  he 
answered  when  we  got  to  the  far  end  of  the  glebe.  His  wife, 
however,  made  it  well  up.  This,  with  other  instances,  con 
vinced  me  that  it  would  have  been  better  if  the  wives  had 
preached,  and  the  husbands  spun. 

From  hence  I  went  to  the  next  manse,  which  was  Tester, 
where  I  had  been  very  frequently  before  with  John  Wither- 
spoon,  afterwards  the  celebrated  doctor.*  The  father,  who  had 
very  few  topics  to  examine  on,  as  the  depth  of  his  reading 

*  See  above,  p.  55. 


80  CLERICAL  TOUR. 

was  in  the  sermons  of  the  French  Calvinist  ministers,  which 
he  preached  daily,  was,  besides,  too  lazy  to  engage  in  anything 
so  arduous  as  the  examination  of  a  student,  —  how  to  eat  and 
drink  and  sleep  being  his  sole  care,  though  he  was  not  without 
parts,  if  the  soul  had  not  been  buried  under  a  mountain  of 
flesh.  The  next  I  went  to  was  old  Lundie  of  Saltoun,  a  pious 
and  primitive  old  man,  very  respectful  in  his  manners,  and 
very  kind.  He  had  been  bred  an  old  Scotch  Episcopalian, 
and  was  averse  to  the  Confession  of  Faith :  the  presbytery 
showed  lenity  towards  him,  so  he  did  not  sign  it  to  his  dying 
day,  for  which  reason  he  never  could  be  a  member  of  As 
sembly. 

The  last  I  went  to  on  this  tour  was  Mathew  Simson,  of 
Pencaitland,  a  brother  of  Professor  Simson's,  who  had  been 
suspended  for  heresy,  and  an  uncle  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Robert  Simson,  both  of  Glasgow.  Their  father  was  Mr. 
Patrick  Simson,  of  Renfrew,  who  had  been  tutor  to  some  of 
the  family  of  Argyle.  Mr.  Mathew  was  an  old  man,  but 
very  different  in  his  manner  from  Mr.  Lundie,  for  he  was 
frank  and  open  and  familiar,  as  much  as  the  other  was  re 
served  and  dignified.  He  was  an  excellent  examinator,  for 
he  answered  all  his  own  questions,  and  concluded  all  with  a 
receipt  for  making  sermons,  which  he  said  would  serve  as 
a  general  rule,  and  answer  well,  be  the  text  what  it  would. 
This  was  to  begin  first  with  an  account  of  the  fall  of  man, 
and  the  depravity  of  human  nature ;  then  a  statement  of  the 
means  of  our  recovery  by  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
and,  thirdly,  an  application  consisting  of  observations,  or  uses, 
or  reflections,  or  practical  references  tending  to  make  us  good 
men.  For  my  patient  hearing,  he  made  me  a  present  of  a 
pen-case  of  his  own  turning,  and  added,  if  I  would  come  and 
stay  a  week  with  him  he  would  teach  me  to  turn,  and  con 
verse  over  the  system  with  me,  for  he  saw  I  was  tolerably 


RETURN  TO  GLASGOW.  81 

well  founded,  as  my  father  was  an  able  Calvinist.  He  said 
lie  would  order  bis  son  Patrick,  who  was  a  more  powerful 
master  of  the  turning-loom  than  he  was,  to  turn  me  a  nice 
snuff-box  or  egg-cup,  which  I  pleased.  But  Pat  was  lazy, 
and  liked  better  to  go  about  with  the  gun,  from  which  he  did 
not  restrain  him,  as  he  not  only  furnished  his  sisters  with 
plenty  of  partridges  and  hares,  but  likewise  gratified  the  Lady 
Pencaitland  with  many.  Thus  ended  my  preparatory  trial 
by  visiting  the  clergy,  for  with  the  two  or  three  nearer  home 
I  was  well  acquainted. 

Early  in  November  this  year,  1744,  I  returned  to  Glasgow. 
As  it  was  a  hard  frost,  I  chose  to  walk,  and  went  the  first  day 
to  my  friend  Mr.  Hew  Horn's  at  Foxhall,  near  Kirkliston. 
He  had  been  married  for  a  year  or  two  to  Miss  Inglis,  a 
daughter  of  Sir  John  Inglis,  a  handsome,  agreeable  woman. 
I  perceived  that  he  was  much  changed,  and  thought  him  in  a 
very  dangerous  way.  He  was,  however,  very  cheerful  and 
pleasant,  and  sat  up  with  me  till  eleven  o'clock.  I  break 
fasted  with  him  next  morning,  and  then  took  my  leave,  with 
a  foreboding  that  I  should  see  him  no  more,  which  was 
verified,  for  he  gave  way  not  many  months  afterwards.  In 
him  I  lost  a  most  valuable  friend.  I  walked  to  Whitburn  at 
an  early  hour,  but  could  venture  no  further,  as  there  was  no 
tolerable  lodging-house  within  my  reach.  There  was  then  not 
even  a  cottage  nearer  than  the  Kirk  of  Shotts,  and  Whitburn 
itself  was  a  solitary  house  in  a  desolate  country. 

Next  morning  the  frost  was  gone,  and  such  a  deluge  of  rain 
and  tempest  of  wind  took  possession  of  the  atmosphere,  as  put 
an  end  to  all  traveUing.  This  was  on  Thursday  morning ;  and 
the  wet  thaw  and  bad  weather  continuing,  I  was  obliged  to 
remain  there  for  several  days,  for  there  was  in  those  days 
neither  coach  nor  chaise  on  the  road,  and  not  even  a  saddle- 
horse  to  be  had.  At  last,  on  Sunday  morning,  being  the 
4*  F 


82  RETUEN  TO  GLASGOW. 

fourth  day,  an  open  chaise  returning  from  Edinburgh  to 
Glasgow  took  me  in,  and  conveyed  me  safe.  I  had  passed 
my  time  more  tolerably  than  I  expected ;  for  though  the  land 
lord  was  ignorant  and  stupid,  his  wife  was  a  sensible  woman, 
and  in  her  youth  had  been  celebrated  in  a  song  under  the 
name  of  the  "  Bonny  Lass  of  Livingstone."  They  had  five 
children,  but  no  books  but  the  Bible  and  Sir  Richard  Black- 
more's  epic  poem  of  "  Prince  Arthur,"  which  the  landlord 
brought  me  in  one  day  by  the  name  of  a  song-book,  which  he 
said  would  divert  me  ;  and  so  it  did,  for  I  had  not  met  with  it 
before.  The  walls  and  windows  were  all  scrawled  with 
poetry ;  and  I  amused  myself  not  a  little  in  composing  a 
satire  on  my  predecessors,  which  I  also  inscribed  on  the  walls, 
to  the  great  delight  of  my  landlady,  who  showed  it  for  many 
years  afterwards  with  vanity  to  her  travellers.  When  I  came 
to  pay  my  reckoning,  to  my  astonishment  she  only  charged  me 
3s.  6d.  for  lodging  and  board  for  four  days.  I  had  presented 
the  little  girls  with  ribbons  I  bought  from  a  wandering  pedler 
who  had  taken  shelter  from  the  storm.  But  my  whole  ex 
pense,  maid-servant  and  all,  was  only  5s. ;  such  was  "the  rate 
of  travelling  in  those  days. 

I  had  my  lodging  this  session  in  a  college-room,  which  I  had 
furnished  for  the  session  at  a  moderate  rent.  I  had  never 
been  without  a  cough  in  the  former  winter,  when  I  lodged  in 
a  warm  house  in  King  Street,  opposite  to  what  was  the 
butchers'  market  in  those  days  ;  but  such  was  the  difference 
between  the  air  of  the  College  and  the  lower  streets  of  Glas 
gow,  that  in  my  new  apartment,  though  only  bare  walls,  and 
twenty  feet  by  seventeen,  I  never  had  cold  or  cough  all  the 
winter.  John  Donaldson,  a  college  servant,  lighted  my  fire 
and  made  my  bed ;  and  a  maid  from  the  landlady  who  fur 
nished  the  room  came  once  a  fortnight  with  clean  linens. 
There  were  two  English  students  of  theology  who  lived  on 


COLLEGE  THEATRICALS.  83 

the  floor  below,  and  nobody  above  me.  I  again  attended  the 
lectures  of  Professors  Leechman  and  Hutcheson,  with  much 
satisfaction  and  improvement. 

Young  Sellar,  whom  I  mentioned  before,  became  my  most 
intimate  friend ;  he  came  to  me  whenever  he  was  at  .leisure, 
and  we  passed  our  time  very  agreeably  together.  He  en 
larged  my  circle  of  acquaintance  by  introducing  me  to  the 
ladies  whom  he  visited  ;  and  I  introduced  him  to  my  two 
intimates,  Miss  Campbell  and  Mrs.  D.,  who,  he  admitted, 
were  superior  to  any  of  his  former  acquaintance.  In  an  ex 
cursion  with  him  to  Hamilton  the  year  before,  he  had  made 
me  acquainted  with  Dr.  Cullen,  and  now  that  he  was  come  to 
Glasgow,  I  improved  that  acquaintance.  I  became  intimate 
with  Dr.  M'Lean,  whom  I  mentioned  before,  and  on  his  sug 
gestion  we  prepared  to  act,  the  tragedy  of  Cato  to  a  select 
company  in  the  College.  Our  parts  were  allotted,  and  we 
rehearsed  it  well,  though  we  never  acted  it  before  an  au 
dience.  M'Lean  and  I  allotted  the  parts :  I  was  to  be  Cato ; 
he  was  Marcus ;  our  friend.  Sellar,  Juba ;  a  Mr.  Lesly  was  to 
do  Lucius ;  an  English  student  of  the  name  of  Seddon  was  to 
be  Styphax ;  and  Robin  Bogle,  Sempronius.  Miss  Campbell 
was  our  Marcia,  and  Miss  Wood,  Lucia ;  I  have  forgot  our 
Portius.  We  rehearsed  it  twice,  but  never  acted  it.  Though 
we  never  acted  our  play,  we  attained  one  of  our  chief  pur 
poses,  which  was,  to  become  more  intimate  with  the  ladies. 
Lord  Selkirk  would  not  join  us,  though  he  took  much  pleas 
ure  in  instructing  Miss  Campbell. 

In  our  literary  club  this  session  we  took  to  reviewing  books 
as  a  proper  exercise.  Mr.  Thorn,  who  was  afterwards  minis 
ter  of  Govan,  a  learned  man,  of  a  very  particular  but  ingen 
ious  turn  of  mind,  though  much  senior  to  any  of  us,  was 
one  of  our  members,  and  had  great  sway  among  us.  He  had 
quarrelled  with  Hutcheson ;  and  having  heard  me  say  that 


84  FRANCIS  HUTCHESON. 

Hutcheson's  book  on  the  Passions  was  not  intelligible,  he 
assigned  it  to  me,  that  I  might  understand  it  better.  I  ac 
cordingly  reviewed  it  in  a  few  pages,  and  took  much  pains 
to  unravel  certain  intricacies  both  of  thought  and  expression 
that  had  run  through  it.  This  I  did  with  much  freedom, 
though  not  without  respect  to  the  author.  This  essay  pleased 
my  friends ;  and  one  of  them,  by  Thorn's  instigation,  carried  a 
copy  of  it  to  Hutcheson.  He  glanced  it  over  and  returned  it, 
saying  that  the  young  gentleman  might  be  in  the  right,  but 
that  he  had  long  ago  made  up  his  mind  on  those  subjects,  and 
could  not  now  take  the  trouble  to  revise  them. 

Not  long  after  this,  I  had  certain  proof  of  the  gentleness 
and  candor  of  this  eminent  Professor ;  for  when  I  delivered 
a  discourse  in  the  Divinity  Hall,  it  happened  to  please  the 
Professor  (Leechman)  so  much,  that  he  gave  it  very  liberal 
praise,  both  in  public  and  private  ;  insomuch  that  it  was  bor 
rowed  by  one  of  his  minions,  and  handed  about  the  College 
with  so  much  approbation  that  Mr.  Hutcheson  wished  to  see 
it.  When  he  had  read  it,  he  returned  it  with  unqualified  ap 
plause,  though  it  contained  some  things  which  a  jealous  mind 
might  have  interpreted  as  an  attack  on  his  favorite  doctrine  of 
a  moral  sense.  His  civility  was  now  accompanied  with  some 
degree  of  confidence. 

I  preserved  my  intimacy  with  my  friends  of  last  winter, 
and  added  a  few  more  families  to  my  acquaintance,  which 
made  the  time  pass  very  agreeably.  I  had  been  introduced  to 
Mr.  Purdie,  the  rector  of  the  school,  who  had,  at  North  Ber 
wick,  taught  many  of  my  young  friends  in  the  Lothians,  and 
particularly  the  whole  name  of  Dalrymple.  Pie  had  half  a 
dozen  or  eight  boarders,  for  whom  his  daughters  kept  a  very 
good  table,  insomuch  that  I  was  often  invited  to  dinner,  and 
became  intimate  in  the  family.  The  eldest  daughter,  who  was 
a  sensible,  prudent  woman,  and  mistress  of  the  house,  being 


AN  INCIDENT.  85 

about  forty,  sent  for  me  one  Saturday  morning  in  haste ;  and 
when  I  arrived,  she  took  me  into  a  room  apart  from  her  sis 
ters,  who  were  girls  under  twenty ;  and  there,  with  many 
tears,  informed  me  that  her  father,  having  been  much  intox 
icated  on  the  Friday  or  Saturday  before,  had  never  since  been 
sober ;  that  he  had  not  attended  the  school  all  the  week,  and 
that  he  now  was  firmly  determined  to  resign  his  office,  as  he 
was  sensible  he  could  not  abstain  from  dram-drinking.  She 
added  that  he  had  not  saved  much  money,  having  been  held 
down  by  some  idle  and  wasteful  sons,  and  that  they  could  ill 
afford  to  want  the  emoluments  of  his  office.  She  concluded 
by  telling  me  that  she  had  previously  informed  her  father  that 
she  was  going  to  send  for  me,  and  impart  his  secret  to  me  for 
advice.  To  this  he  had  not  objected,  and  when  I  was  carried 
to  his  room  he  received  me  with  open  arms,  told  me  his  dis 
mal  case  with  tears  and  lamentations,  and  his  firm  resolution 
to  resign,  as  he  was  sensible  he  could  not  reform,  and  could  no 
longer  be  of  use.  He  concluded  by  asking  for  a  dram,  which 
was  the  second  he  had  called  for  before  nine  o'clock.  I 
laughed  and  rallied,  and  was  serious  and  grave  with  him  by 
turns,  and  used  every  argument  I  could  to  break  him  off  his 
habit,  but  to  no  purpose ;  for  he  answered  all  my  arguments 
by  the  impossibility  of  his  ever  reforming,  and  consequently 
of  ever  appearing  again  in  the  world.  He  concluded  with 
"  Nelly,  give  me  a  dram,"  which  she  durst  not  refuse,  other 
wise  he  would  have  fired  the  house.  To  have  time  to  think 
and  consult  about  him,  I  went  from  him  to  the  breakfast  par 
lor.  When  I  was  leaving  him,  he  prayed  me  to  return  as 
soon  as  possible,  as  he  could  not  bear  his  own  thoughts  alone. 
When  at  breakfast,  I  thought  of  an  expedient  which  I 
imagined  I  could  depend  upon  for  him,  if  it  took  effect.  I 
communicated  my  plan  to  his  daughter,  and  she  was  pleased. 
When  I  went  to  him  again,  I  told  him  I  was  truly  sorry  I 


86  AN  INCIDENT. 

could  not  pass  that  day  with  him,  as  I  was  obliged  to  go  to 
Stirling,  by  my  father's  orders,  upon  business,  and  that  I  had 
made  choice  of  that  day,  as  I  could  return  without  missing 
more  than  one  day  of  the  College.  I  added  that  I  had  never 
been  there,  and  had  not  been  able  to  find  a  companion,  for 
which  I  was  sorry.  "  Nelly,"  said  he,  with  great  quickness, 
"  do  you  think  I  could  sit  on  a  horse  ?  if  I  could,  I  would  go 
with  him  and  show  him  the  way."  I  cajoled  him  on  this,  and 
so  did  his  daughter ;  and,  in  short,  after  an  early  dinner  while 
the  horses  and  a  servant  were  preparing,  we  set  out  for  Stir 
ling  about  one  o'clock,  I  having  taken  his  word  before  his 
daughter,  that  in  all  things  he  would  comply  with  my  will, 
otherwise  I  would  certainly  return. 

I  had  much  difficulty  to  get  him  to  pass  the  little  village 
public-houses  which  were  in  our  way,  without  calling  for 
drams.  He  made  this  attempt  half  a  dozen  times  in  the  first 
stage,  but  I  would  not  consent,  and  besides  promised  him  he 
should  have  as  much  wine  as  he  pleased.  With  much  dif 
ficulty  I  got  him  to  Kilsyth,  where  we  stopped  to  feed  our 
horses,  and  where  we  drank  a  bottle  of  claret.  In  short,  I 
got  him  to  Stirling  before  it  was  quite  dark,  in  the  second 
week  of  April,  old  style :  he  ate  a  hearty  supper,  and  we  had 
another  bottle  of  claret,  and  he  confessed  he  never  slept  sound 
but  that  night,  since  he  was  taken  ill.  In  short,  we  remained 
at  Stirling  all  Sunday,  attended  church,  and  had  our  dinner 
and  claret,  and  our  walk  on  the  Castle-hill  in  the  evening.  I 
brought  him  to  his  own  house  on  Monday  by  five  o'clock. 
The  man's  habit  was  broken ;  he  was  again  of  a  sound  mind, 
and  he  attended  his  school  on  Tuesday  in  perfect  health.  As 
many  of  the  Professors  were  Purdie's  friends,  this  successful 
act  of  kindness  to  him  raised  me  in  their  esteem,  and  atoned 
for  many  levities  with  which  I  had  been  taxed. 

He  lived  many  years  after  this,  but  did  not  leave  his  family 


SOCIAL   SKETCHES.  87 

independent.  One  of  his  daughters  was  married  creditably  in 
Edinburgh :  the  two  eldest  came  to  live  there  after  his  death, 
but  were  in  indigence.  In  the  year  1778  I  happened  to  be 
for  a  few  weeks  at  Buxton,  where  I  met  with  Sir  William 
Gordon,  K.B.,  who  had  been  a  boarder  at  Purdie's  for  two  or 
three  years  before  1745,  and  who  was  at  Leyden  with  me  in 
the  end  of  that  year.  Riding  out  with  him  one  day,  he  hap 
pened  to  ask  me  in  what  state  Purdie's  family  was  left  ?  I 
told  him  what  I  knew,  and  added  that  they  had  a  kind  remem 
brance  of  him,  for  that  not  many  months  after  he  had  left 
them,  I  heard  Nelly  say,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  upon  an  in 
sult  having  been  oifered  them  by  some  of  their  neighbors,  that 
they  durst  not  have  done  so  if  Willy  Gordon  had  been  in  the 
house.  He  answered  that  the  father  had  very  often  licked 
him,  but  he  had  no  resentment,  as  it  was  for  his  advantage, 
and  that  the  daughters  were  good  girls.  He  concluded  by 
offering  me  a  sum  of  money.  I  thought  it  better  to  accept  of 
an  annual  pension  of  £10,  which  he  remitted  to  them  by  me 
for  several  years. 

My  friendship  with  Mrs.  D.  and  her  brother  never  impaired, 
though,  having  a  more  extended  acquaintance  than  I  had  the 
preceding  year,  I  was  frequently  engaged  when  they  wished 
to  have  me  with  them. 

I  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Wood's  family,  where  there 
were  three  or  four  very  agreeable  daughters,  besides  the 
Governor  of  the  Isle  of  Man,  and  Andrew  the  clergyman, 
who  died  rector  of  Gateshead,  by  Newcastle,  in  the  year  1772, 
of  a  fever  which  he  contracted  by  exerting  himself  with  the 
utmost  humanity  to  save  his  parishioners  on  the  fatal  night 
when  the  bridge  of  Newcastle  fell.  Here  it  was  that  I  met 
with  Colonel  Robert  Hepburn  of  Keith  for  the  first  time  since 
we  had  been  at  the  same  class  together  in  the  year  1736. 
We  left  Mr.  Wood's  early  in  an  evening  after  drinking  tea, 


88  SOCIAL  SKETCHES. 

retired  to  Cockaine's  tavern,  and  did  not  part  till  near  five  in 
the  morning.  Most  unfortunately  for  me,  I  had  made  an  ap 
pointment  with  Mr.  James  Hogg,  a  probationer,  and  tutor  to 
the  four  sons  of  Sir  John  Douglas  of  Kelhead,  to  ride  ten  or 
twelve  miles  with  them  on  their  way  to  Annandale  ;  and  I 
had  hardly  become  warm  in  bed  when  rap-rap  he  came  to  my 
door,  and  insisted  on  my  getting  up  and  fulfilling  my  promise. 
Never  in  my  life  had  I  such  reluctance  to  fulfil  any  promise, 
for  Hepburn  had  proposed  to  make  rack  punch  our  beverage 
after  supper,  which  I  had  never  tasted  before,  and  which  had 
given  me  the  first  headache  I  had  almost  ever  felt.  There 
was  no  help  for  it.  It  was  a  fine  morning  in  the  second  week 
of  May  ;  we  breakfasted  at  Hamilton,  and  I  rode  six  miles 
farther  with  them  and  returned. 

James  Hogg  was  a  man  of  a  good  heart  and  uncommon 
generosity.  Sir  John's  affairs  were  completely  deranged,  and 
he  could  raise  no  money  to  carry  on  the  education  of  his  boys. 
Hogg  had  a  little  patrimony  of  his  own,  nearly  £200  :  rather 
than  his  pupils  should  suffer,  two  of  whom  were  fit  for  col 
lege,  he  came  to  Glasgow  with  all  the  four,  and  with  a  trusty 
old  woman  of  a  servant :  he  kept  a  small  house  for  them  in 
King  Street,  arid  being  an  excellent  economist,  fed  them  well 
at  the  least  possible  expense.  I  frequently  dined  with  him 
and  them,  and  was  astonished  at  his  good  management.  This 
he  continued  all  the  next  year  also,  when  Sir  John  was  sent 
to  the  Tower  of  London  for  rebellious  practices.  This  debt, 
together  with  arrears  of  wages,  was  not  paid  till  many  years 
afterwards,  when  Hogg  was  minister  of  Linlithgow,  where  he 
died  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  in  spring  1770.  Had  his  under 
standing  been  as  strong  as  his  heart  was  generous,  he  would 
have  been  a  first-rate  character. 

In  that  week,  or  that  immediately  following,  Will  Sellar 
and  I,  and  Robin  Bogle  of  Shettleston,  went  on  a  party  with 


SOCIAL  SKETCHES.  80 

ladies,  two  Miss  Woods  and  Peggy  Douglas  of  Mains,  a  cele 
brated  wit  and  a  beauty,  even  then  in  the  wane.  When  we 
came  to  Hamilton,  she  prayed  us  to  send  a  messenger  a  few 
miles  to  bring  to  us  a  clergyman  of  a  neighboring  parish,  a 
Mr.  Thomas  Clelland.  He  came  to  us  when  we  were  view 
ing  the  romantic  gardens  of  Barncluch,  which  lie  between 
Hamilton  and  the  Dog  Kennel. 

Thomas  Clelland  was  a  good-looking  little  man,  but  his  hair 
was  Becoming  gray,  which  no  sooner  Margaret  observed,  than 
she  rallied  him  pretty  roughly  (which  was  her  way )  on  his 
being  an  old  fusty  bachelor,  and  on  his  increasing  marks  of 
age  since  she  had  seen  him,  not  more  than  a  year  before. 
After  bearing  patiently  all  the  efforts  of  her  wit,  "  Margaret," 
says  he,  "  you  know  that  I  am  master  of  the  parish  register 
where  your  age  is  recorded,  and  that  I  know  when  you  must 
be  with  justice  called  an  old  maid,  in  spite  of  your  juvenile 
airs."  "  What  care  I,  Tom  ? "  said  she  ;  "  for  I  have  for 
some  time  renounced  your  worthless  sex  :  I  have  sworn  to  be 
Duchess  of  Douglas,  or  never  to  mount  a  marriage-bed." 
This  happened  in  May,  1745.  She  made  her  purpose  good. 
When  she  made  this  prediction  she  was  about  thirty.  It  was 
fulfilled  a  few  years  after.* 

I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  temper  and  spirit  of  the 
clergy  in  the  neighborhood  of  Glasgow  a  second  time  this 
year,  by  means  of  a  trial  of  a  clergyman  in  the  county  of  Ayr 
for  certain  alleged  crimes,  which  came  by  appeal  before  the 
Synod  of  Glasgow.  The  person  tried  was  a  very  sensible 
man,  of  much  wit  and  humor,  who  had  made  a  butt  of  a 
neighboring  clergyman,  who  was  weak,  and  at  the  same  time 
good-natured,  and  had  all  the  qualities  of  a  butt.  He  was 

*  Margaret,  daughter  of  James  Douglas  of  Mains,  was  married  in  1768  to 
Archibald,  first  and  last  Duke  of  Douglas.  She  died  in  1774,  leaving  a  tra 
ditional  reputation  for  much  freedom  of  speech  and  action.  —  ED. 


90  SOCIAL  SKETCHES. 

found  out,  however,  to  be  a  man  full  of  deep  resentment,  and 
so  malicious  as  to  turn  frolic  into  crime.  After  many  very 
late  sederunts  of  the  Synod,  and  at  last  a  hearing  of  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly,  the  affair  was  dismissed.  The  gentleman  was 
settled  in  the  parish  to  which  he  was  presented,  and  many 
years  afterwards  died  minister  of  Glasgow,  where  his  good 
name  had  been  so  much  traduced,  much  regretted  ;  —  a  cau 
tion  to  young  men  of  wit  and  humor  to  beware  of  fools  as 
much  as  knaves. 

I  was  detained  later  at  Glasgow  than  I  would  have  chosen, 
that  I  might  obtain  my  credentials  from  the  University,  as  by 
the  tenor  of  the  Act  of  Bursary  I  was  obliged  on  this  third 
year  to  repair  to  some  foreign  Protestant  university.  I  had 
taken  my  degree  of  A.  M.  at  Edinburgh,  and  had  only  to  get 
here  my  certificate  of  attendance  for  two  years,  and  my  Latin 
letter  recommending  me  to  foreign  academies.  I  must  ac 
knowledge  that  I  had  profited  much  by  two  years'  study  at 
Glasgow  in  two  important  branches  —  viz.  moral  philosophy 
and  theology  ;  along  with  which  last  I  received  very  excellent 
instructions  on  composition,  for  Leechman  was  not  only  fer 
vent  in  spirit  when  he  lectured,  but  ornamented  all  his  dis 
courses  with  a  taste  derived  from  his  knowledge  of  belles 
lettres. 

In  the  months  of  June  and  July,  1745,  I  went  through  most 
of  my  trials  in  the  presbytery  of  Haddington,  as  my  father 
was  resolved  I  should  be  ready  to  take  out  my  license  within 
a  month  after  my  return  from  abroad.  In  the  month  of 
August  I  went  to  Dumfriesshire,  to  pass  a  few  weeks  there, 
and  to  take  leave  of  my  friends.  About  the  end  of  that 
month  I  received  orders  from  my  father  to  repair  to  Drum- 
lanrig  Castle,  to  meet  his  friend  Dr.  John  Sinclair,  M.  D., 
who  was  to  be  some  days  there  on  his  way  from  Moffat  to 
Dumfries,  and  after  that  to  return  home  as  soon  as  I  could,  as 


SOCIAL   SKETCHES.  91 

lie  expected  to  be  home  about  the  18th  of  next  month  with 
my  mother  from  Langton,  near  Dunse,  where  they  were 
drinking  goats'  whey. 

I  accordingly  met  Dr.  Sinclair  at  Drumlanrig,  where  I  had 
been  frequently  before  with  my  friend  James  Ferguson  of 
Craigdarroch,  who  was  then  acting  commissioner  for  his  Grace 
the  Duke  of  Queensbeny.  He  had  been  bred  to  the  law, 
but  relinquished  the  bar  for  this  employment,  which  seated 
him  within  a  few  miles  of  his  own  estate,  which  needed  im 
provement.  His  first  lady  was  a  sister  of  Sir  Henry  Nisbet's, 
who  died  young ;  his  second  was  her  cousin,  a  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  Baron  Dalrymple.  Dr.  Sinclair  had  been  my 
father's  class-fellow,  and  had  a  great  regard  for  him  ;  he  was 
an  elegant  scholar,  and  remarkable  for  his  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  Latin  tongue,  which  in  those  days  was  much  cultivated 
in  Scotland.  The  professors  of  medicine  then  taught  in  Latin, 
and  Dr.  Sinclair  was  one  of  that  first  set  who  raised  the  fame 
of  the  school  of  medicine  in  Edinburgh  above  that  of  any 
other  in  Europe.  He  and  Dr.  John  Clerk,  the  great  prac 
tising  physician,  had  found  Moffat  waters  agree  with  them 
selves,  and  frequented  it  every  season  in  their  turns  for  a 
month  or  six  weeks,  and  by  that  means  drew  many  of  their 
patients  there,  which  made  it  be  more  frequented  than  it  has 
been  of  late  years,  when  there  is  much  better  accommodation. 

I  had  promised  Mr.  R.  Bogle  and  his  sister  to  pass  a  few 
days  with  them  at  Moffat,  on  the  road  to  which  I  passed  one 
day  with  my  friend  William  Cunningham,  minister  of  Duris- 
deer,  the  Duke  of  Queensberry's  parish  church.  He  was 
knowing  and  accomplished,  and  pleasing  and  elegant  in  his 
manners,  beyond  most  of  the  Scottish  clergymen  of  that  day. 
The  Duchess  of  Queensberry  (Lady  K.  Hyde)  had  discov 
ered  his  merit  on  her  visit  to  Scotland,  and  had  him  constantly 
with  her,  so  that  he  was  called  the  Duchess's  Walking-staff. 


92  LANDING  OF  PRINCE   CHARLES. 

From  his  house  I  crossed  to  Moffat,  about  fifteen  miles  off, 
but  did  not  reach  it  that  night  on  account  of  a  thunder-storm 
which  had  made  the  waters  impassable,  so  that  I  was  obliged 
to  lodge  in  what  they  call  a  shieling,  where  I  was  used  with 
great  hospitality  and  uncommon  politeness  by  a  young  farmer 
and  his  sister,  who  were  then  residing  there,  attending  the 
milking  of  the  ewes,  the  business  of  that  season  in  a  sheep 
country. 

When  I  got  to  Moffat,  I  found  my  expecting  friends  still 
there,  though  the  news  had  arrived  that  the  Chevalier  Prince 
Charles  had  landed  in  the  north  with  a  small  train,  had  been 
joined  by  many  of  the  clans,  and  might  be  expected  to  break 
down  into  the  low  country,  unless  Sir  John  Cope,  who  was 
then  on  his  march  north,  should  meet  with  them  and  disperse 
them.  I  remained  only  a  few  days  at  Moffat,  as  the  news  be 
came  more  important  and  alarming  every  day  ;  and,  taking 
leave  of  my  friends,  I  got  home  to  Prestonpas  on  the  evening 
of  the  12th  of  September.  My  father,  &c.,  were  not  returned, 
but  I  was  perfectly  informed  of  the  state  of  public  affairs  by 
many  persons  in  the  place,  who  told  me  that  Prince  Charles 
had  evaded  Sir  John  Cope,  who  found  himself  obliged  to 
march  on  to  Inverness,  not  venturing  to  attack  the  High 
landers  on  the  hill  of  Corry-arrock,  and  was  then  proceeding 
to  Aberdeen,  where  transports  were  sent  to  bring  his  army  by 
sea  to  the  Firth.  I  was  also  informed  that  as  the  Highlanders 
were  making  hasty  marches,  the  city  of  Edinburgh  was  put 
ting  itself  in  some  state  of  defence,  so  as  to  be  able  to  resist 
the  rebels  in  case  of  an  attack  before  Sir  John  Cope  arrived. 

On  this  news  I  repaired  to  Edinburgh  the  next  day,  which 
was  the  13th,  and,  meeting  many  of  my  companions,  found 
that  they  were  enlisting  themselves  in  a  corps  of  four  hundred 
Volunteers,  which  had  been  embodied  the  day  before,  and 
were  thought  necessary  for  the  defence  of  the  city.  Messrs. 


EDINBURGH  IN  THE  '45.  93 

William  Robertson,  John  Home,  William  M'Ghie,  Hugh 
Bannatyne,  William  Cleghorn,  William  Wilkie,  George  Lo 
gan,  and  many  others,  had  enlisted  into  the  first  or  College 
Company,  as  it  was  called,  which  was  to  be  commanded  by 
Provost  Drummond,  who  was  expected  to  return  that  day 
from  London,  where  he  had  been  for  some  time.  On  the  14th 
I  joined  that  company,  and  had  arms  put  into  my  hands,  and 
attended  a  drill-sergeant  that  afternoon  and  the  next  day  to 
learn  the  manual  exercise,  which  I  had  formerly  been  taught 
by  my  father,  who  had  himself  been  a  Volunteer  in  the  end 
of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  when  there  was  an  alarm  about  the 
Pretender,  but  were  obliged  to  hold  their  meetings  in  malt- 
barns  in  the  night,  and  by  candlelight. 

The  city  was  in  great  ferment  and  bustle  at  this  time  ;  for 
besides  the  two  parties  of  Whigs  and  Jacobites,  —  of  which  a 
well-informed  citizen  told  me  there  were  two  thirds  of  the  men 
in  the  city  of  the  first  description,  or  friends  to  Government ; 
and  of  the  second,  or  enemies  to  Government,  two  thirds  of 
the  ladies,  —  besides  this  division,  there  was  another  between 
those  who  were  keen  for  preparing  with  zeal  and  activity  to 
defend  the  city,  and  those  who  were  averse  to  that  measure, 
which  were  Provost  Stuart  and  all  his  friends ;  and  this  ap 
peared  so  plainly  from  the  Provost's  conduct  and  manner  at 
the  time,  that  there  was  not  a  Whig  in  town  who  did  not 
suspect  that  he  favored  the  Pretender's  cause ;  and  however 
cautiously  he  acted  in  his  capacity  of  chief  magistrate,  there 
were  not  a  few  who  suspected  that  his  backwardness  and  cold 
ness  in  the  measure  of  arming  the  people  was  part  of  a  plan 
to  admit  the  Pretender  into  the  city. 

It  was  very  true  that  a  half-armed  regiment  of  new  raised 
men,  with  four  hundred  Volunteers  from  the  city,  and  two 
hundred  from  other. places,  might  not  be  thought  sufficient  for 
the  defence  of  the  city,  had  it  been  seriously  besieged  ;  yet, 


94  EDINBUKGH  IN  THE  '45. 

considering  that  the  Highlanders  were  not  more  than  1 800, 
and  the  half  of  them  only  armed  —  that  they  were  averse  to 
approach  walls,  and  afraid  of  cannon  —  I  am  persuaded  that, 
had  the  dragoons  proved  firm  and  resolute,  instead  of  running 
away  to  Dunbar  to  meet  Sir  John  Cope,  it  was  more  than  two 
to  one  that  the  rebels  had  never  approached  the  city  till  they 
had  defeated  Cope,  which,  in  that  case,  they  would  not  prob 
ably  have  attempted.  Farther,  I  am  of  opinion,  that  if  that 
part  of  the  Town  Council  who  were  Whigs  had  found  good 
ground  to  have  put  Stuart  under  arrest,  the  city  would  have 
held  out. 

In  this  opinion  of  Stuart  I  was  confirmed,  when  in  London, 
the  following  month  of  April.  I  happened  to  be  in  the  British 
or  Forrest's  Coffee-house,  I  forget  which,  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  day  when  the  news  of  the  victory  at  Culloden  arrived.  I 
was  sitting  at  a  table  with  Dr.  Smollett  and  Bob  Smith  (the 
Duke  of  Roxburgh's  Smith),  when  John  Stuart,  the  son  of 
the  Provost,  who  was  then  confined  in  the  Tower,  after  turn 
ing  pale  and  murmuring  many  curses,  left  the  room  in  a  rage, 
and  slapped  the  door  behind  him  with  much  violence.  I  said 
to  my  two  companions,  that  lad  Stuart  is  either  a  madman  or 
a  fool  to  discover  himself  in  this  manner,  when  his  father  is  in 
the  Tower  on  suspicion.  Smith,  who  knew  him  best,  ac 
quiesced  in  my  opinion,  and  added,  that  he  had  never  seen 
him  so  much  beside  himself. 

For  a  few  days  past  M'Laurin  the  professor  had  been  busy 
on  the  walls  on  the  south  side  of  the  town,  endeavoring  to 
make  them  more  defensible,  and  had  even  erected  some  small 
cannon  near  to  Potterrow  Port,  which  I  saw.  I  visited  my 
old  master  when  he  was  busy,  who  seemed  to  have  no  doubt 
that  he  could  make  the  walls  defensible  against  a  sudden  at 
tack,  but  complained  of  want  of  service,  and  at  the  same  time 
encouraged  me  and  my  companions  to  be  diligent  in  learning 


THE  VOLUNTEEES  IN  THE   '45.  95 

the  use  of  arms.  We  were  busy  all  Saturday,  when  there 
arrived  in  town  Bruce  of  Kennett,  with  a  considerable  number 
of  Volunteers,  above  100  from  his  country,  and  Sir  Robert 
Dickson  with  130  or  140  from  Musselburgh  and  the  parish  of 
Inveresk  ;  this  increased  the  strength  and  added  to  the  courage 
of  the  loyal  inhabitants. 

On  Sunday  morning  the  15th,  however,  news  had  arrived 
in  town  that  the  rebel  army  had  been  at  Linlithgow  the  night 
before,  and  were  on  full  march  towards  Edinburgh.  This 
altered  the  face  of  affairs,  and  made  thinking  people  fear  that 
they  might  be  in  possession  of  Edinburgh  before  Cope  arrived. 
The  Volunteers  rendezvoused  in  the  College  Yards  before  ten 
o'clock,  to  the  number  of  about  400.  Captain  Drummond 
appeared  at  ten,  and,  walking  up  in  front  of  the  right  of  his 
company,  where  I  stood  with  all  my  companions  of  the  corps, 
he  addressed  us  in  a  speech  of  some  length,  the  purport  of 
which  was,  that  it  had  been  agreed  by  the  General,  and  the 
Officers  of  the  Crown,  that  the  military  force  should  oppose 
the  rebels  on  their  march  to  Edinburgh,  consisting  of  the 
Town  Guard,  that  part  of  the  new  regiment  who  had  got 
arms,  with  the  Volunteers  from  the  country.  What  he  had  to 
propose  to  us  was,  that  we  should  join  this  force,  and  expose 
our  lives  in  defence  of  the  capital  of  Scotland,  and  the  se 
curity  of  our  country's  laws  and  liberties.  He  added  that, 
as  there  was  a  necessity  for  leaving  some  men  in  arms  for  the 
defence  of  the  city,  that  any  persons  choosing  the  one  service 
rather  than  the  other  would  bring  no  imputation  of  blame,  but 
that  lie  hoped  his  company  would  distinguish  themselves  by 
their  zeal  and  spirit  on  this  occasion.  This  was  answered  by 
an  unanimous  shout  of  applause. 

We  were  marched  immediately  up  to  the  Lawnmarket, 
where  we  halted  till  the  other  companies  should  follow.  They 
were  late  in  making  their  appearance,  and  some  of  their  of- 


96  THE  VOLUNTEERS  IN  THE  '45. 

ficers,  coming  up  to  us  while  in  the  street,  told  us  that  most 
of  the  privates  were  unwilling  to  march.  During  this  halt, 
Hamilton's  dragoons,  who  had  been  at  Leith,  marched  past 
our  corps,  on  their  route  to  join  Gardiner's  regiment,  who 
were  at  the  Colt  Bridge.  We  cheered  them,  in  passing,  with 
a  huzzah  ;  and  the  spectators  began  to  think  at  last,  that  some 
serious  fighting  was  likely  to  ensue,  though  before  this  moment 
many  of  them  had  laughed  at  and  ridiculed  the  Volunteers. 
A  striking  example  of  this  we  had  in  our  company,  for  a  Mr. 
Hawthorn,  a  son  of  Bailie  Hawthorn,  who.had  laughed  at  his 
companions  among  the  Volunteers,  seeing  us  pass  through  the 
Luckenbooths  in  good  order,  and  with  apparent  military  ardor, 
ran  immediately  up-stairs  to  his  father's  house,  and,  fetching 
his  fowling-piece  and  his  small  sword,  joined  us  before  we  left 
the  Lawnmarket. 

While  we  remained  there,  which  was  great  part  of  an  hour, 
the  mob  in  the  street  and  the  ladies  in  the  windows  treated  us 
very  variously,  many  with  lamentation,  and  even  with  tears, 
and  some  with  apparent  scorn  and  derision.  In  one  house  on 
the  south  side  of  the  street  there  was  a  row  of  windows,  full 
of  ladies,  who  appeared  to  enjoy  our  march  to  danger  with 
much  levity  and  mirth.  Some  of  our  warm  Volunteers  ob 
served  them,  and  threatened  to  fire  into  the  windows  if  they 
were  not  instantly  let  down,  which  was  immediately  complied 
with.  In  marching  down  the  Bow,  a  narrow  winding  street, 
the  scene  was  different,  for  all  the  spectators  were  in  tears, 
and  uttering  loud  lamentations  ;  insomuch  that  Mr.  Kiriloch,  a 
probationer,  the  son  of  Mr.  Kinloch,  one  of  the  High  Church 
ministers,  who  was  in  the  second  rank  just  behind  Hew  Bal- 
lantine,  said  to  him  in  a  melancholy  tone,  "Mr.  Hew,  Mr. 
Hew,  does  not  this  remind  you  of  a  passage  in  Livy,  when 
the  Gens  Fabii  marched  out  of  Rome  to  prevent  the  Gauls 
entering  the  city,  and  the  whole  matrons  and  virgins  of  Rome 


THE  VOLUNTEERS  IN  THE  '45.  97 

were  wringing  their  hands,  and  loudly  lamenting  the  certain 
danger  to  which  that  generous  tribe  was  going  to  be  ex 
posed  ?  "  "  Hold  your  tongue,"  says  Ballantine,  "  otherwise  I 
shall  complain  to  the  officer,  for  you  '11  discourage  the  men." 
"  You  must  recollect  the  end,  Mr.  Hew,  omnes  ad  unum  peri- 
eri."  This  occasioned  a  hearty  laugh  among  those  who  heard 
it,  which  being  over,  Ballantine  half  whispered  Kinloch, 
"  Robin,  if  you  are  afraid,  you  had  better  steal  off  when  you 
can  find  an  opportunity ;  I  shall  not  tell  that  you  are  gone  till 
we  are  too  far  off  to  recover  you." 

We  halted  in  the  Grassmarket,  near  the  West  Port,  that 
the  other  bodies  who  were  to  join  us  might  come.  On  our 
march,  even  our  company  had  lost  part  of  their  number,  and 
none  of  the  other  Volunteers  had  come  up.  The  day  being 
advanced  to  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock,  the  brewers  who 
lived  in  that  end  of  the  street  brought  out  bread  and  cheese, 
and  strong  ale  and  brandy,  as  a  refreshment  for  us,  in  the 
belief  that  we  needed  it,  in  marching  on  such  an  enterprise. 
While  we  remained  in  this  position,  my  younger  brother  Wil 
liam,  then  near  fifteen,  as  promising  a  young  man  as  ever  was 
born,  of  a  fine  genius,  and  an  excellent  scholar,  though  he  had 
been  kept  back  with  very  bad  health,  came  up  to  me.  He 
had  walked  into  town  that  morning  in  his  anxiety  about  me, 
and  learning  that  I  was  with  the  company  on  our  march  to 
fight  the  rebels,  he  had  run  down  with  great  anxiety  from  the 
house  where  I  lodged,  to  learn  how  things  really  stood.  He 
was  melancholy  and  much  alarmed.  I  withdrew  with  him  to 
the  head  of  a  neighboring  close,  and  endeavored  to  abate  his 
fears,  by  assuring  him  that  our  march  was  only  a  feint  to  keep 
back  the  Highlanders,  and  that  we  should  in  a  little  while  be 
ordered  back  to  our  field  for  exercise  in  the  College.  His 
anxiety  began  to  abate,  when,  thinking  that,  whatever  should 
happen,  it  would  be  better  for  me  to  trust  him  with  a  Portu- 
5  G 


98  THE  VOLUNTEEKS  IN  THE  '45. 

gal  piece  of  thirty-six  shillings  and  three  guineas  that  I  had 
in  my  pocket,  I  delivered  them  over  to  him.  On  this  he  burst 
into  tears,  and  said  I  surely  did  not  think  as  I  said,  but  be 
lieved  I  was  going  out  to  danger,  otherwise  I  would  not  so 
readily  part  with  my  money.  I  comforted  him  the  best  way 
I  could,  and  took  back  the  greater  part  of  the  money,  assuring 
him  that  I  did  not  believe  yet  that  we  would  be  sent  out,  or 
if  we  were,  I  thought  we  would  be  in  such  force  that  the 
rebels  would  not  face  us.  The  young  man  was  comforted, 
and  I  gave  him  a  rendezvous  for  nine  at  night. 

While  we  were  waiting  for  an  additional  force,  a  body  of 
the  clergy  (the  forenoon  service  being  but  ill  attended  on  ac 
count  of  the  ringing  of  the  fire-bell,  which  is  the  great  alarm 
in  Edinburgh),  who  were  the  two  Wisharts,  Wallace,  Glen, 
Logan,  &c.,  came  to  us.  Dr.  William  Wishart,  Principal  of 
the  College,  was  their  prolocutor,  and  called  upon  us  in  a  most 
pathetic  speech  to  desist  from  this  rash  enterprise,  which  he 
said  was  exposing  the  flower  of  the  youth  of  Edinburgh,  and 
the  hope  of  the  next  generation,  to  the  danger  of  being  cut 
off,  or  made  prisoners  and  maltreated,  without  any  just  or  ade 
quate  object ;  that  our  number  added  so  very  little  to  the  force 
that  was  intended  against  the  rebels,  that  withdrawing  us 
would  make  little  difference,  while  our  loss  would  be  irrepara 
ble,  and  that  at  any  rate  a  body  of  men  in  arms  was  necessary 
to  keep  the  city  quiet  during  the  absence  of  the  armed  force, 
and  therefore  he  prayed  and  besought  the  Volunteers  and 
their  officers  to  give  up  all  thoughts  of  leaving  the  city  de 
fenceless,  to  be  a  prey  to  the  seditious. 

This  discourse,  and  others  similar  to  it,  had  an  effect  upon 
many  of  us,  though  youthful  ardor  made  us  reluctant  to  abandon 
the  prospect  of  showing  our  prowess.  Two  or  three  of  the 
warmest  of  our  youths  remonstrated  against  those  unreason 
able  speeches,  and  seemed  eager  for  the  fight.  From  that 


THE   VOLUNTEERS  IN  THE  '45.  99 

moment  I  saw  the  impropriety  of  sending  us  out,  but  till  the 
order  was  recalled,  it  was  our  duty  to  remain  in  readiness  to 
obey.  We  remained  for  nearly  an  hour  longer,  and  were 
joined  by  another  body  of  Volunteers,  and  part  of  the  new 
regiment  that  was  raising.  Not  long  after  came  an  order  for 
the  Volunteers  to  march  back  to  the  College  Yards,  when 
Pro  vest  Drummond,  who  had  been  absent,  returned  and  put 
himself  at  our  head,  and  marched  us  back.  In  the  mean  time 
the  other  force  that  had  been  collected,  with  ninety  men  of 
the  Town  Guard,  &c.,  &c.,  marched  out  to  the  Colt  Bridge, 
and  joined  the  dragoons,  who  were  watching  the  approach  of 
the  enemy.  Some  of  the  Volunteers  imagined  that  this  ma 
noeuvre  about  the  Volunteers  was  entirely  Drummond's,  and 
that  he  had  no  mind  to  face  the  rebels,  though  he  had  made  a 
parade  of  courage  and  zeal,  to  make  himself  popular.  But 
this  was  not  the  man's  character,  —  want  of  personal  courage 
was  not  his  defect.  It  was  civil  courage  in  which  he  failed ; 
for  all  his  life  he  had  a  great  deference  to  his  superiors.  But 
I  then  thought  as  I  do  now,  that  his  offer  to  carry  out  the  Vol 
unteers  was  owing  to  his  zeal  and  prowess,  —  for  personally  he 
was  a  gallant  Highlander,  —  but,  on  better  considering  the 
matter,  after  hearing  the  remonstrance  of  the  clergy,  he  did 
not  think  that  he  could  well  be  answerable  for  exposing  so 
many  young  men  of  condition  to  certain  danger  and  uncertain 
victory. 

When  we  were  dismissed  from  the  College  Yards,  we  were  or 
dered  to  rendezvous  there  again  in  the  evening,  as  night  guards 
were  to  be  posted  round  the  whole  city.  Twelve  of  thirteen 
of  the  most  intimate  friends  went  to  a  late  dinner  to  a  Mrs. 
Turnbull's,  then  next  house  to  the  Tron  Church.  Many 
things  were  talked  of  with  great  freedom,  for  the  company 
were  William  M'Ghie,  William  Cleghorn,  William  Robertson, 
John  Home,  Hew  Ballantine,  and  I.  The  other  names  I 


100  THE  DEFENCE  OF  EDINBURGH. 

have  forgot.  Sundry  proposals  were  made,  one  of  which  was 
that  we  should  march  off  with  our  arms  into  England,  and 
raise  a  volunteering  spirit ;  or  at  any  rate  that  we  should  join 
Sir  John  Cope's  army,  and  try  to  get  as  many  as  possible  to 
follow  us.  As  I  had  been  separated  from  my  companions  for 
two  years  by  my  attendance  at  Glasgow,  I  had  less  confidence 
to  speak  my  mind,  especially  as  some  of  my  warm  associates 
thought  everybody  cowardly  or  a  secret  Jacobite,  who  did  not 
agree  with  them.  However,  perceiving  that  some  of  the 
company  did  not  agree  with  the  chief  speakers,  I  ventured  to 
Btate,  that  before  we  resolved  to  march  off  with  our  arms,  we 
should  take  care  to  have  a  sufficient  number  of  followers ;  for 
even  if  it  were  a  lawful  act  to  march  off  with  our  arms  with 
out  orders,  it  would  appear  ridiculous  and  contemptible  if 
there  were  no  more  of  us  than  the  present  company,  and  I 
guessed  we  could  not  reckon  on  three  or  four  more.  This 
brought  out  M'Ghie  and  Hew  Ballantine,  who  were  consid 
ered  the  steadiest  men  amongst  us.  This  occasioned  a  warm 
altercation,  for  Cleghorn  and  Home,  in  those  days,  were  very 
fiery.  At  last,  however,  it  was  settled  that  we  should  try,  in 
the  course  of  next  day,  to  find  if  we  could  prevail  on  any 
considerable  number  to  follow  us,  and  if  not,  that  we  should 
carry  our  arms  to  the  Castle,  that  they  might  not  fall  into  the 
enemies'  hands,  and  then  make  the  best  of  our  way  separately 
to  Sir  John  Cope's  army,  and  offer  our  service. 

When  the  night  watch  was  set,  all  the  company  I  have  now 
mentioned  were  appointed  to  guard  the  Trinity  Hospital,  in 
Leith  W;pnd,  which  was  one  of  the  weakest  parts  of  the  city. 
There  twelve  of  us  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  Alexander  Scott,  a  young  man  of  spirit,  a  merchant  in 
the  city,  and  not  two  or  three  years  senior  to  the  eldest  of  us. 
Here  we  had  nothing  to  do  all  night  but  make  responses  every 
half  hour,  as  the  "  All  's  well "  came  round  from  the  other 


THE  CAPTUEE  OF  EDINBURGH.  101 

guards  that  were  posted  at  certain  distances,  so  that  a  stranger 
who  was  approaching  the  city  would  have  thought  it  was  going 
to  be  gallantly  defended.  But  we  knew  the  contrary ;  for,  as 
Provost  Stuart  and  all  his  friends  had  been  against  making  any 
preparation  for  defence,  when  they  yielded  to  the  zeal  of  their 
opponents,  they  hung  a  dead  weight  on  every  measure.  This 
we  were  all  sensible  of,  and  had  now  no  doubt  that  they 
wished  the  city  to  fall  into  the  Pretender's  hands,  however 
carefully  they  might  hide  then-  intentions. 

At  one  o'clock,  the  Lord  Provost  and  his  guard  visited  all 
the  posts,  and  found  us  at  Trinity  Hospital  very  alert.  When 
he  was  gone,  "  Did  you  not  see,"  said  John  Home  to  me,  "  how 
pale  the  traitor  looked,  when  he  found  us  so  vigilant  ?  "  "  No," 
I  replied,  "  I  thought  he  looked  and  behaved  perfectly  well, 
and  it  was  the  light  from  the  lantern  that  made  him  appear 
pale."  When  we  were  relieved  in  the  morning,  I  went  to  my 
lodging,  and  tried  to  get  a  few  hours'  sleep ;  but,  though  the 
house  was  down  a  close,  the  noise  was  so  great,  and  my  spirits 
so  much  agitated,  that  I  got  none. 

At  noon  on  the  16th,  when  I  went  to  the  streets,  I  heard 
that  General  Fowlks  had  arrived  from  London  early,  and,  by 
order  of  General  Guest,  had  taken  command  of  the  Second 
Regiment  of  Dragoons,  who  having  retired  the  night  before 
from  Corstorphine,  where  they  left  only  a  guard,  had  marched 
with  them  to  the  Colt  Bridge,  a  mile  nearer  than  Corstor 
phine,  and  were  joined  by  the  same  body  of  foot  that  had 
been  with  them  on  the  15th.  The  rebels,  however,  were 
slowly  approaching,  and  there  was  no  news  of  Sir  John  Cope's 
arrival  with  the  army  from  Aberdeen ;  and  the  general  opin 
ion  was  that  the  town  would  certainly  be  given  up.  The  most 
zealous  Whigs  came  now  to  think  this  necessary,  as  they 
plainly  thought  they  saw  Provost  Stuart  and  his  friends, 
so  far  from  co-operating  with  their  zeal,  retarded  every 
measure. 


102  THE   CAPTURE  OF  EDINBURGH. 

But  the  fate  of  the  city  was  decided  early  in  the  afternoon, 
when  the  two  regiments  of  dragoons  were  seen  about  four 
o'clock  on  their  march  from  the  Colt  Bridge  to  Leith,  by  the 
long  dykes,  as  then  called ;  now  George  Street  in  the  New 
Town.  Then  the  clamor  arose,  that  it  would  be  madness  to 
think  of  defending  the  town,  as  the  dragoons  had  fled.  The 
alarm-bell  was  rung,  —  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  with  the 
magistrates  was  convened,  first  in  the  Goldsmith's  Hall,  and 
when  the  crowd  increased,  in  the  New  Church  aisle.  The 
four  companies  of  Volunteers  rendezvoused  in  the  Lawn- 
market,  and,  growing  impatient,  sent  two  of  their  lieutenants 
to  the  Provost  for  orders,  for  the  captains  had  been  sent  for 
to  the  meeting.  They  soon  returned  without  any  orders,  and 
said  all  was  clamor  and  discordance.  While  they  were  absent, 
two  Volunteers  in  the  rear  rank  (Boyle  and  Weir),  just  be 
hind,  quarrelled,  when  debating  whether  or  not  the  city  should 
be  surrendered,  and  were  going  to  attack  one  another,  one 
with  his  musket  and  bayonet,  and  the  other  with  his  small 
sword,  having  flung  down  his  musket.  They  were  soon  sepa 
rated  without  any  harm,  and  placed  asunder  from  each  other. 
At  this  time,  a  man  on  horseback,  whom  nobody  knew,  came 
up  from  the  Bow,  and,  riding  at  a  quick  pace  along  the  line 
of  Volunteers,  called  out  that  the  Highlanders  were  at  hand, 
and  that  they  were  16,000  strong.  This  fellow  did  not  stop 
to  be  examined,  but  rode  off  at  the  gallop.  About  this  time, 
a  letter  had  come,  directed  to  the  Provost,  summoning  the 
town  to  surrender,  and  alarming  them  with  the  consequence 
in  case  any  opposition  was  made. 

The  Provost  made  a  scrupulous  feint  about  reading  the  let 
ter,  but  this  point  was  soon  carried,  and  all  idea  of  defence 
was  abandoned.  Soon  after,  Captain  Drummond  joined  us  in 
the  Lawnmarket,  with  another  captain  or  two.  He  sent  to 
General  Guest,  after  conversing  a  little  with  the  lieutenant,  to 


THE  CAPTUKE  OF  EDINBUEGH.  103 

acquaint  him  that  the  Volunteers  were  coming  to  the  Castle 
to  deliver  their  arms.  The  messenger  soon  returned,  and  we 
marched  up,  glad  to  deliver  them,  lest  they  should  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  which  the  delay  of  orders  seemed 
to  favor,  though  not  a  little  ashamed  and  afflicted  at  our  in 
glorious  campaign. 

We  endeavored  to  engage  as  many  as  we  could  to  meet  us 
at  Haddington,  and  their  deliberate  what  was  to  be  done,  as 
we  conjectured  that,  now  that  the  town  of  Edinburgh  had  sur 
rendered,  Sir  John  Cope  would  not  land  nearer  than  Dunbar. 
Upon  being  asked  by  two  of  my  friends  what  I  was  to  do  — 
viz.  William  Robertson  and  William  Cleghorn  —  I  told  them 
that  I  meant  to  go  that  night  to  my  father's,  at  Prestonpans, 
where,  if  they  would  join  me  next  day,  by  that  time  events 
might  take  place  that  would  fix  our  resolution.  Our  ardor  for 
arms  and  the  field  was  not  abated. 

As  it  was  now  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  I  went  to  a  house 
near  the  Nether  Bow  Port,  where  I  had  appointed  my  brother 
to  meet  me,  that  we  might  walk  home  together.  Having  fore 
seen  the  events  that  took  place,  as  the  rebels  were  so  near  the 
town,  I  wished  to  take  the  road  as  soon  as  possible,  but  on  at 
tempting  to  get  out  of  the  gate,  in  the  inside  of  which  several 
loaded  carts  or  wagons  were  standing,  I  found  the  gates 
locked,  and  the  keys  lodged  with  the  Provost.  The  carts 
were  said  to  contain  the  baggage  of  Sir  John  Cope's  army, 
&c.,  and  each  party  interpreted  the  shutting  of  the  gates  ac 
cording  to  their  own  fancy  —  one  side  thinking  this  was  a 
mano3uvre  to  prevent  their  reaching  Sir  John  ;  and  the  other, 
to  hinder  them  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  it  was  half  past  eight  o'clock  before  the  gate 
was  opened,  when  I  heard  the  baggage  was  ordered  back  to 
the  Castle.  At  a  later  hour  they  were  sent  to  Dunbar. 

My  brother  and  I  set  out  immediately,  and  after  passing 


104  THE  EETREAT  OF  THE  DRAGOONS. 

through  the  crowd  at  the  head  of  the  Canongate,  who  were 
pressing  both  ways  to  get  out  and  in,  we  went  through  the 
Abbey,  by  St.  Ann's  Yards  and  the  Duke's  "Walk,  to  Jock's 
Lodge,  meeting  hardly  a  mortal  the  whole  way.  When  we 
came  down  near  the  sands,  I  chose  that  way  rather  than  the 
road  through  the  whins,  as  there  was  no  moonlight,  and  the 
whins  were  dark  and  solitary,  but  the  sands  always  lightsome 
when  the  sea  is  in  ebb,  which  was  then  the  case.  We  walked 
slowly,  as  I  had  been  fatigued,  and  my  brother  not  strong ; 
and,  having  met  no  mortal  but  one  man  on  horseback  as  we 
entered  the  sands,  riding  at  a  brisk  trot,  who  hailed  us,  we 
arrived  at  the  west  end  of  Prestonpans,  having  shunned  Mus- 
selburgh  by  passing  on  the  north  side,  without  meeting  or 
being  overtaken  by  anybody.  When  we  came  to  the  gate  of 
Lucky  Vint's  Courtyard,  a  tavern  or  inn  then  much  frequented, 
I  was  astonished  to  meet  with  the  utmost  alarm  and  confusion 
—  the  officers  of  the  dragoons  calling  for  their  horses  in  the 
greatest  hurry.  On  stepping  into  the  Court,  Lord  Drummore, 
the  judge,  saw  me  (his  house  being  near,  he  had  come  down 
to  sup  with  the  officers).  He  immediately  made  up  to  me, 
and  hastily  inquired  "  Whence  I  had  come  ?  "  *'  From  Edin 
burgh  direct."  "  Had  the  town  surrendered  ?  "  "  No  !  but  it 
was  expected  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels  early  to 
morrow."  "  Were  there  any  Highlanders  on  their  march  this 
way  ?  "  "  Not  a  soul ;  "  I  could  answer  for  it,  as  I  had  left 
Edinburgh  past  eight  o'clock,  and  had  walked  out  deliberately, 
and  seen  not  a  creature  but  the  horseman  in  the  sands. 

He  turned  to  the  officers,  and  repeated  my  intelligence,  and 
asserted  that  it  must  be  a  false  alarm,  as  he  could  depend  on 
me.  But  this  had  no  effect,  for  they  believed  the  Highlanders 
were  at  hand.  It  was  in  vain  to  tell  them  that  they  had 
neither  wings  nor  horses,  nor  were  invisible  —  away  they  went, 
as  fast  as  they  could,  to  their  respective  corps,  who,  on  march- 


THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  DRAGOONS.  105 

ing  from  Leith,  where  they  thought  themselves  not  safe,  had 
halted  in  an  open  field,  above  the  west  end  of  Prestonpans, 
between  Prestongrange  and  the  enclosures  of  Mr.  Nisbet, 
lying  west  from  the  village  of  Preston.  On  inquiring  what 
was  become  of  Gardiner,  Drummore  told  me,  that  being  quite 
worn  out  on  their  arrival  on  that  ground,  he  had  begged  to  go 
to  his  own  house,  within  half  a  mile,  where  he  had  been  since 
eight  o'clock,  and  where  he  had  locked  himself  in,  and  could 
not  be  awaked  till  four  in  the  morning,  his  usual  hour.  I 
went  through  the  town  to  my  father's,  and  before  I  got  there 
I  heard  the  dragoons  marching  in  confusion,  so  strong  was 
their  panic,  on  the  road  that  leads  by  the  back  of  the  gardens 
to  Port  Seaton,  Aberlady,  and  North  Berwick,  all  the  way  by 
the  shore.  My  father  and  mother  were  not  yet  come  home. 

Before  six  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  17th,  Mr.  James  Hay, 
a  gentleman  in  the  town,  who  was  afterwards  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Edinburgh  Regiment,  came  to  my  bedside,  and  eagerly 
inquired  what  I  thought  was  to  be  done,  as  the  dragoons,  in 
marching  along  in  their  confusion,  had  strewed  the  road  east 
ward  with  accoutrements  of  every  kind  —  pistols,  swords, 
skullcaps,  &c.  I  said  that  people  should  be  employed  im 
mediately  to  gather  them  up,  and  send  them  after,  which 
was  done,  and  amounted  to  what  filled  a  close  cart  and  a 
couple  of  creels  on  horseback.  By  this  time  it  was  reported 
that  the  transports  with  Cope  were  seen  off  Dunbar.  But  it 
was  not  this  news,  for  it  was  not  then  come,  that  made  the 
dragoons  scamper  from  their  ground  on  the  preceding  night. 
It  was  an  unlucky  dragoon,  who,  slipping  a  little  aside  for  a 
pea-sheaf  to  his  horse,  for  there  were  some  on  the  ground  not 
led  off,  fell  into  a  coal-pit,  not  filled  up,  when  his  side-arms 
and  accoutrements  made  such  a  noise,  as  alarmed  a  body  of 
men,  who,  for  two  days,  had  been  completely  panic-struck. 

About  midday,  I  grew  anxious  for  the  arrival  of  my  two 


106  ADVENTURES  IN  THE  '45. 

companions,  Cleghorn  and  Robertson.  I,  therefore,  walked 
out  on  the  road  to  Edinburgh,  when,  on  going  as  far  as  where 
the  turnpike  is  now,  below  Drummore,  I  met  with  Robertson 
on  horseback,  who  told  me  that  a  little  way  behind  him  was 
Cleghorn  and  a  cousin  of  his  own,  a  Mr.  Fraser  of  the  Excise, 
who  wished  to  accompany  us  to  Sir  John  Cope's  camp,  for  il 
was  now  known  that  he  was  to  land  that  day  at  D unbar,  and 
the  city  of  Edinburgh  had  been  surrendered  early  that  morn 
ing  to  the  Highland  army. 

We  waited  till  our  companions  came  up,  and  walked  to 
gether  to  my  father's  house,  where  I  had  ordered  some  dinner 
to  be  prepared  for  them  by  two  o'clock.  They  were  urgent 
to  have  it  sooner,  as  they  wished  to  begin  our  journey  towards 
Dunbar  as  long  before  sunset  as  they  could. 

As  we  were  finishing  a  small  bowl  of  punch  that  I  had 
made  for  them  after  dinner,  James  Hay,  the  gentleman  I  men 
tioned  before,  paid  us  a  visit,  and  immediately  after  the  ordi 
nary  civilities,  said  earnestly  that  he  had  a  small  favor  to  ask 
of  us,  which  was  that  we  would  be  so  good  as  accept  of  a 
small  collation  which  his  sister  and  he  had  provided  at  their 
house  —  that  of  Charles  Sheriff,  the  most  eminent  merchant  in 
the  place,  who  had  died  not  long  before,  and  left  a  widow  and 
four  daughters  with  this  gentleman,  their  uncle,  to  manage 
their  affairs.  We  declined  accepting  this  invitation  for  fear 
of  being  .too  late.  He  continued  strongly  to  solicit  our  com 
pany,  adding  that  he  would  detain  us  a  very  short  while,  as 
he  had  only  four  bottles  of  burgundy,  which  if  we  did  not 
accept  of,  he  would  be  obliged  to  give  to  the  Highlanders. 
The  name  of  burgundy,  which  some  of  us  had  never  tasted, 
disposed  us  to  listen  to  terms,  and  we  immediately  adjourned 
to  Mrs.  Sheriff's,  not  an  hundred  yards  distant.  We  found 
very  good  apples  and  pears  and  biscuit  set  out  for  us,  and 
after  one  bottle  of  claret  to  wash  away  the  taste  of  the  whisky 


ADVENTUKES  IN  THE  '45.  107 

punch,  we  fell  to  the  burgundy,  which  we  thought  excellent ; 
and  in  little  more  than  an  hour  we  were  ready  to  take  the 
road,  it  being  then  not  long  after  five  o'clock.  Robertson 
mounted  his  horse,  and  left  us  to  go  round  by  his  house  at 
Gladsmuir  to  get  a  little  money,  as  he  had  not  wherewithal  to 
defray  his  expenses,  and  mentioned  an  hour  when  he  prom 
ised  to  meet  us  at  Bangley  Braefoot,  Maggie  Jolmstone's,  a 
public  house  on  the  road  leading  to  Dunbar,  by  Garlton  Hills, 
a  mile  to  the  north  of  Haddington.  There  were  no  horses 
here  for  me,  for  though  my  father  kept  two,  he  had  them  both 
at  the  Goat  Whey  quarters. 

When  we  came  within  sight  of  the  door  of  this  house,  we 
saw  Robertson  dismounting  from  his  horse :  we  got  some  beer 
or  porter  to  refresh  us  after  our  walk,  and  having  broken  off 
in  the  middle  of  a  keen  dispute  between  Cleghorn  and  a  re 
cruiting  sergeant,  whether  the  musket  and  bayonet  or  broad 
sword  and  target  were  the  best  weapons,  we  proceeded  on  our 
journey,  still  a  little  doubtful  if  it  was  true  that  Sir  John 
Cope  had  arrived.  We  proceeded  slowly,  for  it  was  dark,  till 
we  came  to  Linton  Bridge.  Robertson,  with  his  usual  pru 
dence,  proposed  to  stay  all  night,  it  being  ten  o'clock,  and  still 
double  beds  for  us  all.  Cleghorn's  ardor  and  mine  resisted 
this  proposal;  and  getting  a  loan  of  Robertson's  horse,  we 
proceeded  on  to  the  camp  at  Dunbar,  that  we  might  be  more 
certain  of  Sir  John's  arrival.  At  Belton  Inn,  within  a  mile 
of  the  camp,  we  were  certified  of  it,  and  might  then  have 
turned  in,  but  we  obstinately  persisted  in  our  plan,  fancying 
that  we  should  find  friends  among  the  officers  .to  receive  us 
into  their  tents.  When  we  arrived  at  the  camp  we  were  not 
allowed  admittance,  and  the  officer  on  the  picket,  whom  Cleg- 
horn  knew,  assured  us  that  there  was  not  an  inch  of  room 
for  us  or  our  horse,  either  in  camp  or  at  Dunbar,  and  ad 
vised  us  to  return.  Being  at  last  persuaded  that  Cope  was 


108  COLONEL  GARDINER. 

landed,  and  that  we  had  played  the  fool,  we  first  attempted 
Belton  Inn,  but  it  was  choked  full  by  that  time,  as  we  were 
convinced  by  eight  or  ten  footmen  lounging  in  the  kitchen  on 
tables  and  chairs.  We  tried  the  inn  at  Linton  with  the  same 
success.  At  last  we  were  obliged  to  knock  up  the  minister, 
Mat.  Reid,  at  two  in  the  morning,  who,  taking  us  for  marau 
ders  from  the  camp,  kept  us  an  hour  at  the  door.  We  were 
hardly  well  asleep,  when,  about  six,  Robertson  came  to  de 
mand  his  horse,  quite  stout  and  well  refreshed,  as  well  as  his 
cousin  Fraser,  while  we  were  jaded  and  undone  ;  such  is  the 
difference  between  wisdom  and  folly. 

After  breakfasting,  however,  at  the  inn,  we  set  out  again  for 
Dunbar,  in  sanguine  hopes  that  we  should  soon  return  with 
the  army  and  give  a  good  account  of  Sir  John  Cope.  On  our 
way,  we  visited  the  camp,  which  lay  a  mile  west  of  Dunbar. 
As  soon  as  I  arrived  at  the  town,  I  inquired  for  Colonel 
Gardiner,  and  went  and  visited  him  at  Mr.  Pyot's,  the  min 
ister  of  the  town,  where  he  lodged.  Pie  received  me  with 
kindness,  and  invited  me  to  dine  with  him  at  two  o'clock,  and 
to  come  to  him  a  little  before  the  hour.  I  went  to  him  at 
half  past  one,  and  he  took  me  to  walk  in  the  garden.  He 
looked  pale  and  dejected,  which  I  attributed  to  his  bad  health 
and  the  fatigue  he  had  lately  undergone.  I  began  to  ask  him 
if  he  was  not  now  quite  satisfied  with  the  junction  of  the 
foot  with  the  dragoons,  and  confident  that  they  would  give 
account  of  the  rebels.  He  answered  dejectedly  that  he  hoped 
it  might  be  so,  but  —  and  then  made  a  long  pause.  I  said, 
that  to  be  sure  they  had  made  a  very  hasty  retreat ;  "  a  foul 
flight,"  said  he,  "  Sandie,  and  they  have  not  recovered  from 
their  panic ;  and  I  '11  tell  you  in  confidence  that  I  have  not 
above  ten  men  in  my  regiment  whom  I  am  certain  will 
follow  me.  But  we  must  give  them  battle  now,  and  God's 
will  be  done  !  " 


COLONEL  GARDINER.  109 

"We  were  called  to  dinner,  where  there  was  nobody  but 
the  family  and  Cornet  Kerr,  a  kinsman  of  the  colonel.  He 
assumed  an  air  of  gayety  at  dinner,  and  inquiring  of  me  the 
adventures  of  the  night,  rallied  me  as  a  raw  soldier  in  not 
taking  up  with  the  first  good  quarters  I  could  get ;  and  when 
the  approaching  event  was  mentioned,  spoke  of  victory  as  a 
thing  certain,  "  if  God  were  on  our  side."  We  sat  very  short 
time  after  dinner.  The  Colonel  went  to  look  after  his  regi 
ment,  and  prepare  them  for  to-morrow's  march,  and  I  to  look 
out  for  my  companions ;  on  finding  them,  it  was  agreed  to 
return  back  to  Linton,  as  between  the  dragoons  and  the  con 
course  of  strangers  there  was  not  a  bed  to  be  had.  We 
returned  accordingly  to  Linton,  and  made  good  our  quarters 
at  the  minister's,  where  we  remained  till  the  army  passed  in 
the  morning  on  their  route  to  Haddington.  John  Home  had 
arrived  at  Dunbar  on  Wednesday,  and  said  he  had  numbered 
the  Highlanders,  and  thought  they  were  about  1900;  but  that 
they  were  ill  armed,  though  that  defect  was  now  supplied  at 
Edinburgh.  There  were  many  of  the  Volunteers  all  night 
at  Linton,  whom  we  saw  in  the  morning,  and  with  whom  we 
appointed  to  meet  in  an  inn  at  Haddington. 

As  the  army  passed  about  eleven  or  twelve,  we  joined  them 
and  marched  along  with  them  ;  they  took  the  hill  road  by 
Charteris  Dykes  ;  and  when  we  were  about  Beanston,  I  was 
accosted  by  Major  Bowles,  whom  I  knew,  and  who,  desirous 
of  some  conversation  with  me,  made  his  servant  dismount  and 
give  me  his  horse,  which  I  gladly  accepted  of,  being  a  good 
deal  worn  out  with  the  fatigue  of  the  preceding  day.  The 
major  was  completely  ignorant  of  the  state  of  the  country  and 
of  the  character  of  the  Highlanders.  I  found  him  perfectly 
ignorant  and  credulous,  and  in  the  power  of  every  person  with 
whom  he  conversed.  I  was  not  acquainted  with  the  discipline 
of  armies ;  but  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  very  imprudent  to 


110  BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS. 

allow  all  the  common  people  to  converse  with  the  soldiers  on 
their  march  as  they  pleased,  by  which  means  their  panic  was 
kept  up,  and  perhaps  their  principles  corrupted.  Many  people 
in  East  Lothian  at  that  time  were  Jacobites,  and  they  were 
most  forward  to  mix  with  the  soldiers.  The  commons  in 
general,  as  well  as  two  thirds  of  the  gentry  at  that  period,  had 
no  aversion  to  the  family  of  Stuart ;  and  could  their  religion 
have  been  secured,  would  have  been  very  glad  to  see  them  on 
the  throne  again. 

Cope's  small  army  sat  down  for  the  afternoon  and  night  in 
an  open  field  on  the  west  side  of  Haddington.  The  Volun 
teers,  to  the  number  of  twenty-five,  assembled  at  the  principal 
inn,  where  also  sundry  officers  of  dragoons  and  those  on  the 
staff  came  for  their  dinner.  While  our  dinner  was  preparing, 
an  alarm  was  beat  in  the  camp,  which  occasioned  a  great 
hurry-scurry  in  the  courtyard  with  the  officers  taking  their 
horses,  which  some  of  them  did  with  no  small  reluctance, 
either  through  love  of  their  dinner  or  aversion  to  the  enemy. 
I  saw  Colonel  Gardiner  passing  very  slowly,  and  ran  to  him 
to  ask  what  was  the  matter.  He  said  it  could  be  nothing  but 
a  false  alarm,  and  would  soon  be  over.  The  army,  however, 
was  drawn  out  immediately,  and  it  was  found  to  be  a  false 
alarm.  The  Honorable  Francis  Charteris  had  been  married 
the  day  before,  at  Prestonhall,  to  Lady  Francis  Gordon,  the 
Duchess  of  Gordon's  daughter,  who  was  supposed  to  favor 
the  Pretender,  though  she  had  a  large  pension  from  Govern 
ment.  How  that  might  be  nobody  knew,  but  it  was  alleged 
that  the  alarm  followed  their  coach,  as  they  passed  to  their 
house  at  New  Amisfield. 

After  dinner,  Captain  Drummond  came  to  us  at  the  inn,  to 
whom  we  unanimously  gave  a  commission  to  apply  to  the 
general  for  arms  to  us,  and  to  appoint  us  a  station  in  the  line, 
as  we  had  not  only  our  captain,  but  one  of  our  lieutenants 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  Ill 

with  us.  Drummond  left  us  to  make  this  application,  but  was 
very  long  in  returning,  and  the  answer  he  brought  was  not  so 
agreeable.  It  was,  that  the  General  did  not  think  we  could  be 
so  serviceable  by  taking  arms,  as  we  might  be  in  taking  post- 
horses  through  the  night,  and  reconnoitring  the  roads  leading 
from  the  enemy  towards  our  army,  and  bringing  an  account 
of  what  movements  there  were.  This  was  agreed  to  after 
some  hesitation,  and  sixteen  of  us  were  selected  to  go  out,  two 
and  two  —  one  set  at  eight  in  the  evening,  and  another  at 
twelve.  Four  of  those  were  thought  useless,  as  there  were 
only  three  roads  that  could  be  reconnoitred.  I  was  of  the 
first  set,  being  chosen  by  Mr.  William  M'Ghie  as  his  com 
panion,  and  we  chose  the  road  by  the  sea-coast,  through  Long- 
niddry,  Portseaton,  and  Prestonpans,  as  that  with  which  I  was 
best  acquainted.  We  set  out  not  long  after  eight  o'clock,  and 
found  everything  perfectly  quiet,  as  we  expected.  At  Pres 
tonpans  we  called  at  my  father's,  and  found  that  they  had  re 
turned  home  on  Wednesday  ;  and  having  requested  them  to 
wait  supper  till  our  return,  we  rode  on  to  Westpans,  in  tlje 
county  of  Midlothian,  near  Musselburgh  ;  and  still  meeting 
with  nothing  on  which  to  report,  we  returned  to  supper  at  my 
father's.  While  we  were  there,  an  application  was  made  to  us 
by  Bailie  Hepburn,  the  baron  bailie  or  magistrate  of  the  place, 
against  a  young  gentleman,  a  student  of  medicine,  as  he  said, 
who  had  appeared  in  arms  in  the  town,  and  pretended  that  he 
wished  to  be  conducted  to  Cope's  army.  We  went  down  from 
the  manse  to  a  public  house,  where  this  gentleman  was  con 
fined.  At  the  first  glance,  M'Ghie  knew  him  to  be  a  student, 
though  not  personally  acquainted  with  him,  and  got  him  re 
lieved  immediately,  and  brought  him  up  to  supper.  M'Ghie 
took  all  the  pains  he  could  to  persuade  this  gentleman,  whose 
name  was  Myrie,  to  attach  himself  to  the  Volunteers,  and  not 
to  join  the  army ;  but  he  would  not  be  persuaded,  and  actually 


112  BATTLE   OP  PRESTONPANS. 

joined  one  of  the  regiments  on  their  march  next  morning,  and 
was  sadly  wounded  at  the  battle. 

Francis  Garden,  afterwards  Lord  Gardenstone,  and  Robert 
Cunningham,  afterwards  the  General  in  Ireland,  followed  Mr. 
M'Gliie  and  me,  and  were  taken  prisoners,  and  not  very  well 
used.  They  had  gone  as  far  as  Crystall's  Inn,  west  of  Mus- 
selburgh,  and  had  sat  with  a  window  open  after  daylight  at  a 
regale  of  white  wine  and  oysters,  when  they  were  observed  by 
one  of  the  Prince's  Life  Guards  who  was  riding  past,  not  in 
uniform,  but  armed  with  pistols  ;  they  took  to  their  horses, 
when  he,  pretending  to  take  them  for  rebels,  they  avowed  they 
were  King's  men,  and  were  taken  to  the  camp  at  Duddingston. 

When  M'Ghie  and  I  returned  to  Haddington  about  one 
o'clock,  all  the  beds  were  taken  up,  and  we  had  to  sleep  in  the 
kitchen  on  benches  and  chairs.  To  our  regret  we  found  that 
several  Volunteers  had  single  beds  to  themselves,  a  part  of 
which  we  might  have  occupied.  Sir  John  Cope  and  his  army 
marched  in  the  morning,  I  think,  not  till  nine  o'clock,  and  to 
my  great  surprise,  instead  of  keeping  the  post-road  through 
Tranent  Muir,  which  was  high  ground  and  commanded  the 
country  south  for  several  miles,  as  it  did  that  to  the  north  for 
two  or  three  miles  towards  the  sea,  they  turned  to  the  right  by 
Elvingston  and  the  village  of  Trabroun,  till  they  passed  Long- 
niddry  on  the  north,  and  St.  Germains  on  the  south,  when,  on 
entering  the  defile  made  by  the  enclosures  there,  they  halted 
for  near  an  hour,  and  then  marched  into  the  open  field  of  two 
miles  in  length  and  one  and  a  half  in  breadth,  extending  from 
Seaton  to  Preston,  and  from  Tranent  Meadow  to  the  sea.  I 
understood  afterwards  that  the  General's  intention  was  (if  he 
had  any  will  of  his  own)  to  occupy  the  field  lying  between 
"Walliford,  Smeaton,  and  Inveresk,  where  he  would  have  had 
the  river  Esk  running  through  deep  banks  in  front,  and  the 
towns  of  Dalkeith  and  Musselburgh  at  hand  to  supply  him 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  113 

with  provisions.  In  this  camp  he  could  not  have  been  sur 
prised  ;  and  in  marching  to  this  ground  the  road  through 
Tranent  was  not  more  distant  by  100  yards  than  that  by 
Seaton.  But  they  were  too  late  in  marching  ;  for  when  they 
came  to  St.  Germains,  their  scouts,  who  were  chiefly  Lords 
Home  and  Loudon,  brought  them  intelligence  that  the  rebel 
army  were  on  their  march,  on  which,  after  an  hour's  halt, 
when,  by  turning  to  the  left,  they  might  have  reached  the  high 
ground  at  Tranent  before  the  rebels,  they  marched  on  to  that 
plain  before  described,  now  called  the  field  of  battle.  This 
field  was  entirely  clear  of  the  crop,  the  last  sheaves  having 
been  carried  in  the  night  before  ;  and  neither  cottage,  tree,  or 
bush  were  in  its  whole  extent,  except  one  solitary  thorn-bush 
which  grew  on  the  march  between  Seaton  and  Preston  fields, 
around  and  near  to  which  lay  the  greatest  number  of  slain, 
and  which  remains  there  to  this  day,  though  the  fields  have 
been  long  since  completely  enclosed. 

The  army  marched  straight  to  the  west  end  of  this  field  till 
they  came  near  the  walls  of  the  enclosures  of  Preston,  which 
reached  from  the  road  leading  from  the  village  of  Preston 
north  to  Tranent  Meadow  and  Banktown,  down  almost  half 
way  to  Prestonpans,  to  which  town,  from  this  enclosure,  there 
was  no  interruption ;  and  the  whole  projections  of  those  enclos 
ures  into  the  plain  to  the  east  were  not  above  300  yards. 
That  part  of  it  which  belonged  to  Preston  estate  was  divided 
into  three  shots,  as  they  were  called,  or  rigg  lengths,  the  under 
shot,  the  middle,  and  the  upper.  A  cart-road  for  carrying  out 
dung  divided  the  two  first,  which  lay  gently  sloping  to  the  sea, 
from  which  it  was  separated  by  garden-walls,  and  a  large  en 
closure  for  a  rabbit-warren.  The  upper  shot  was  divided 
from  the  middle  one  by  a  footpath,  and  lay  almost  level, 
sloping  almost  imperceptibly  to  Tranent  Meadow.  This  was 
properly  the  field  of  battle,  which  on  account  of  the  slope 

H 


114  BATTLE   OF   PEESTONPANS. 

was  not  seen  fully  from  the  lower  fields  or  the  town.  Near 
to  these  walls  on  the  east  the  army  formed  their  first  line  of 
battle  fronting  west.  They  were  hardly  formed,  when  the 
rebel  army  appeared  on  the  high  ground  at  Birsley,  south 
west  of  our  army  about  a  mile.  On  sight  of  them  our  army 
shouted.  They  drew  nearer  Tranent,  and  our  army  shifted  a 
little  eastward  to  front  them.  All  this  took  place  by  one 
o'clock. 

Colonel  Gardiner  having  informed  the  General  and  his 
staff  that  I  was  at  hand  to  execute  anything  in  my  power  for 
the  good  of  the  service,  there  was  sent  to  me  a  message  to 
inquire  if  I  could  provide  a  proper  person  to  venture  up  to 
the  Highland  army,  to  make  his  observations,  and  particularly 
to  notice  if  they  had  any  cannon,  or  if  they  were  breaking 
ground  anywhere.  With  some  difficulty  I  prevailed  on  my 
father's  church-officer,  a  fine  stout  man,  to  make  this  expedi 
tion,  which  he  did  immediately.  A  little  further  on  in  the 
afternoon  the  same  aide-de-camp,  an  uncle  of  Sir  Ralph  Ab- 
ercrombie's,  came  to  request  me  to  keep  a  lookout  from  the 
top  of  the  steeple,  and  observe  if  at  any  time  any  detachment 
from  the  main  army  was  sent  westwards.  In  the  mean  time 
the  Highlanders  lay  with  their  right  close  to  Tranent,  and 
had  detach ed^ some  companies  dovvn  to  the  churchyard,  which 
was  close  by  a  wagon-way  which  led  directly  down  to  our 
army,  and  crossed  the  road  leading  between  Preston  and  Sea- 
ton,  where  Cope's  six  or  seven  pieces  of  cannon  were  placed, 
not  above  a  third  of  a  mile  distant  from  the  church.  As  the 
Highlanders  appeared  north  of  the  church  in  the  churchyard, 
which  was  higher  than  the  wagon-way,  the  cannon  were 
fired,  and  dislodged  them  from  thence.  Not  long  after  this, 
about  four  in  the  afternoon,  the  rebels  made  a  movement  to 
the  westward  of  Birsley,  where  they  had  first  appeared,  and 
our  army  took  their  first  position.  Soon  after  this  I  observed 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  115 

from  the  steeple  a  large  detachment  of  Highlanders,  about 
300  or  400,  lodge  themselves  in  what  was  called  the  Thorny 
Loan,  which  led  from  the  west  end  of  Preston  to  the  village 
of  Dolphingston  to  the  southwest.  I  mounted  my  horse  to 
make  this  known  to  the  General,  and  met  the  aide-de-camp 
riding  briskly  down  the  field,  and  told  him  what  I  had  seen. 
I  immediately  returned  to  my  station  in  the  steeple.  As 
twilight  approached,  I  observed  that  detachment  withdrawn, 
and  was  going  up  the  field  to  tell  this  when  my  doughty  ar 
rived,  who  was  going  to  tell  me  his  story  how  numerous  and 
fierce  the  Highlanders  were  —  how  keen  for  the  fight  —  and 
how  they  would  make  but  a  breakfast  of  our  men.  I  made 
him  go  with  me  to  the  General  to  tell  his  own  story.  In  the 
mean  time  I  visited  Colonel  Gardiner  for  a  third  time  that 
day  on  his  post,  and  found  him  grave,  but  serene  and  resigned ; 
and  he  concluded  by  praying  God  to  bless  me,  and  that  he 
could  not  wish  for  a  better  night  to  lie  on  the  field ;  and  then 
called  for  his  cloak  and  other  conveniences  for  lying  down,  as 
he  said  they  would  be  awaked  early  enough  in  the  morning, 
as  he  thought,  by  the  countenance  of  the  enemy,  for  they  had 
now  shifted  their  position  to  a  sloping  field  east  from  the 
church,  and  were  very  near  our  army,  with  little  more  than 
the  morass  between.  Coming  down  the  field  I  asked  my 
messenger  if  they  had  not  paid  him  for  his  danger.  Not  a 
farthing  had  they  given  him,  which  being  of  a  piece  with  the 
rest  of  the  General's  conduct,  raised  no  sanguine  hopes  for 
to-morrow.  I  gave  the  poor  fellow  half-a-crown,  which  was 
half  my  substance,  having  delivered  the  gold  to  my  father  the 
night  before. 

When  I  returned  to  my  father's  house,  I  found  it  crowded 
with  strangers,  some  of  them  Volunteers,  and  some  Merse 
clergymen,  particularly  Monteith  and  Laurie,  and  Pat.  Sim- 
son.  They  were  very  noisy  and  boastful  of  their  achieve- 


116  BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS. 

ments,  one  of  them  having  the  dragoon's  broadsword  who  had 
fallen  into  the  coal-pit,  and  the  other  the  musket  he  had  taken 
from  a  Highland  soldier  between  the  armies.  Simson,  who 
was  cousin  to  Adam  Drummond  of  Meginch,  captain  and 
paymaster  in  Lee's  regiment,  had  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  in 
trusted  to  him,  containing  400  guineas,  which  Patrick  not 
imprudently  gave  to  my  father  to  keep  all  night  for  him,  out 
of  any  danger  of  being  plundered.  Perceiving  that  there 
would  be  no  room  for  me,  without  incommoding  the  strangers, 
I  stole  away  to  a  neighboring  widow  gentlewoman's,  where  I 
bespoke  a  bed,  and  returned  to  supper  at  my  father's.  But 
no  sooner  had  I  cut  up  the  cold  sirloin  which  my  mother  had 
provided,  than  I  fell  fast  asleep,  having  been  much  worn 
out  with  all  the  fatigues  of  the  preceding  week.  I  retired 
directly. 

I  directed  the  maid  to  awake  me  the  moment  the  'battle 
began,  and  fell  into  a  profound  sleep  in  an  instant.  I  had  no 
need  to  be  awaked,  though  the  maid  was  punctual,  for  I  heard 
the  first  cannon  that  was  fired,  and  started  to  my  clothes  ; 
which,  as  I  neither  buckled  nor  gartered,  were  on  in  a  mo 
ment,  and  immediately  went  to  my  father's,  not  a  hundred 
yards  off.  All  the  strangers  were  gone,  and  my  father  had 
been  up  before  daylight,  and  had  resorted  to  the  steeple. 
While  I  was  conversing  with  my  mother,  he  returned  to  the 
house,  and  assured  me  of  what  I  had  guessed  before,  that  we 
were  completely  defeated.  I  ran  into  the  garden  where  there 
was  a  mount  in  the  southeast  corner,  from  which  one  could 
see  the  fields  almost  to  the  verge  of  that  part  where  the  battle 
was  fought.  Even  at  that  time,  which  could  hardly  be  more 
than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  after  firing  the  first  cannon,  the 
whole  prospect  was  filled  with  runaways,  and  Highlanders 
pursuing  them.  Many  had  their  coats  turned  as  prisoners, 
but  were  still  trying  to  reach  the  town  in  hopes  of  escaping. 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  117 

The  pursuing  Highlanders,  when  they  could  not  overtake, 
fired  at  them,  and  I  saw  two  fall  in  the  glebe.  By  and  by  a 
Highland  officer  whom  I  knew  to  be  Lord  Elcho  passed  with 
his  train,  and  had  an  air  of  savage  ferocity  that  disgusted  and 
alarmed.  He  inquired  fiercely  of  me  where  a  public  house 
was  to  be  found ;  I  answered  him  very  meekly,  not  doubting 
but  that,  if  I  had  displeased  him  with  my  tone,  his  reply 
would  have  been  with  a  pistol-bullet. 

The  crowd  of  wounded  and  dying  now  approached  with  all 
their  followers,  but  their  groans  and  agonies  were  nothing 
compared  with  the  howlings,  and  cries,  and  lamentations  of 
the  women,  which  suppressed  manhood  and  created  despond 
ency.  Not  long  after  the  Duke  of  Perth  appeared  with  his 
train,  who  asked  me,  in  a  very  different  tone,  the  way  to  Col 
lector  Cheap's,  to  which  house  he  had  ordered  our  wounded 
officers.  Knowing  the  family  were  from  home,  I  answered 
the  questions  of  victorious  clemency  with  more  assurance  of 
personal  safety,  than  I  had  done  to  unappeased  fury.  I  di 
rected  him  the  way  to  the  house,  which  was  hard  by  that 
where  I  had  slept. 

The  rebel  army  had  before  day  marched  in  three  divisions, 
one  of  which  went  straight  down  the  wagon-way  to  attack 
our  cannon,  the  other  two  crossed  the  Morass  near  Seaton 
House  ;  one  of  which  marched  north  towards  Port-seaton, 
where  the  field  is  broadest,  to  attack  our  rear,  but  over- 
marched  themselves,  and  fell  in  with  a  few  companies  that 
were  guarding  the  baggage  in  a  small  enclosure  near  Coc- 
kenzie,  and  took  the  whole.  The  main  body  marched  west 
through  the  plains,  and  just  at  the  break  of  day  attacked  our 
army.  After  firing  once,  they  run  on  with  their  broadswords, 
and  our  people  fled.  The  dragoons  attempted  to  charge, 
under  Colonel  Whitney,  who  was  wounded,  but  wheeled  im 
mediately,  and  rode  off  through  the  defile  between  Preston 


118  BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS. 

and  Bankton,  to  Dolphingston,  half  a  mile  off.  Colonel 
Gardiner,  with  his  division,  attempted  to  charge,  but  was  only 
followed  by  eleven  men,  as  he  had  foretold,  Cornet  Kerr  being 
one.  He  continued  fighting,  and  had  received  several  wounds, 
and  was  at  last  brought  down  by  the  stroke  of  a  broadsword 
over  the  head.  He  was  carried  to  the  minister's  house  at 
Tranent,  where  he  lived  till  next  forenoon.  His  own  house, 
which  was  nearer,  was  made  an  hospital  for  the  Highlanders, 
no  person  of  our  army  being  carried  there  but  the  Master  of 
Torphichen,  who  was  so  badly  wounded  that  he  could  be  sent 
to  no  greater  distance.  Some  of  the  dragoons  fled  as  far  as 
Edinburgh,  and  one  stood  all  day  at  the  Castle-gate,  as  Gen 
eral  Guest  would  not  allow  him  to  be  taken  in.  A  consider 
able  body  of  dragoons  met  at  Dolphingston  immediately  after 
the  rout,  little  more  than  half  a  mile  from  the  field,  where 
Cope  joined  them ;  and  where  it  was  said  Lord  Drummore 
offered  to  conduct  them  back,  with  assurance  of  victory  when 
the  Highlanders  were  busy  with  the  booty.  But  they  could 
not  be  prevailed  on  by  his  eloquence  no  more  than  by  the 
youthful  ardor  of  Earls  Home  and  Loudon.  After  a  short 
halt,  they  marched  over  Falside  Hill  to  Lauder.  Sir  Peter 
Halket,  a  captain  in  Lee's  regiment,  acted  a  distinguished  part 
on  this  occasion  ;  for  after  the  rout  he  kept  his  company  to 
gether  ;  and  getting  behind  a  ditch  in  Tranent  Meadow,  he 
kept  firing  away  on  the  rebels  till  they  were  glad  to  let  him 
surrender  on  terms. 

In  the  mean  time  my  father  became  very  uneasy  lest  I 
should  be  ill-treated  by  the  rebels,  as  they  would  discover  that 
I  had  been  a  Volunteer  in  Edinburgh ;  he  therefore  ordered 
the  horses  to  be  saddled,  and  telling  me  that  the  sea  was  out, 
and  that  we  could  escape  by  the  shore  without  being  seen, 
we  mounted,  taking  a  short  leave  of  my  mother  and  the 
young  ones,  and  took  the  way  he  had  pointed  out.  We  es- 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  119 

caped  without  interruption  till  we  came  to  Port-seaton  harbor, 
a  mile  off,  where  we  were  obliged  to  turn  up  on  the  land, 
when  my  father  observing  a  small  party  of  Highlanders,  who 
were  pursuing  two  or  three  carts  with  baggage  that  were  at 
tempting  to  escape,  and  coming  up  with  the  foremost  driver, 
who  would  not  stop  when  called  to,  they  shot  him  on  the  spot. 
This  daunted  my  father,  who  turned  immediately,  and  took 
the  way  we  came.  We  were  back  again  soon  after,  when, 
taking  off  my  boots  and  putting  on  shoes,  I  had  the  appear 
ance  of  a  person  who  had  not  been  abroad.  I  then  proposed 
to  go  to  Collector  Cheap's  house,  where  I  understood  there 
were  twenty-three  wrounded  officers,  to  offer  my  assistance  to 
the  surgeons,  Cunningham  and  Trotter,  the  first  of  whom  I 
knew.  They  were  surgeons  of  the  dragoons,  and  had  sur 
rendered  that  they  might  attend  the  officers.  When  I  went 
in,  I  told  Cunningham  (afterwards  the  most  eminent  surgeon 
in  Dublin)  that  I  had  come  to  offer  them  my  services,  as, 
though  no  surgeon,  I  had  better  hands  than  a  common  ser 
vant.  They  were  obliged  to  me  ;  but  the  only  service  I  could 
do  to  them  was  to  try  to  find  one  of  their  medicine-chests 
among  the  baggage,  as  they  could  do  nothing  for  want  of  in 
struments.  I  readily  undertook  this  task,  provided  they  would 
furnish  me  with  a  guard.  This  they  hoped  they  could  do ; 
and  knocking  at  the  door  of  an  inner  room,  a  Highland  officer 
appeared,  whom  they  called  Captain  Stewart.  He  was  good- 
looking,  grave,  and  of  polished  manners.  He  answered  that 
he  would  soon  find  a  proper  conductor  for  me,  and  despatched 
a  servant  with  a  message.  In  the  mean  time  I  observed  a 
very  handsome  young  officer  lying  in  an  easy-chair  in  a  faint, 
and  seemingly  dying.  They  led  me  to  a  chest  of  drawers, 
where  there  lay  a  piece  of  his  skull,  about  two  fingers'  breadth 
and  an  inch  and  a  half  long.  I  said,  "  This  gentleman  must 
die."  "  No,"  said  Cunningham,  "  the  brain  is  not  affected,  nor 


120  BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS. 

any  vital  part :  he  has  youth  and  a  fine  constitution  on  his 
side  ;  and  could  I  but  get  my  instruments,  there  would  be  no 
fear  of  him."  This  man  was  Captain  Blake.  Captain  Stew 
art's  messenger  arrived  with  a  fine,  brisk,  little,  well-dressed 
Highlander,  armed  cap-a-pie  with  pistols,  and  dirk,  and  broad 
sword.  Captain  Stewart  gave  him  his  orders,  and  we  set  off 
immediately. 

Never  did  any  young  man  more  perfectly  display  the  boast 
ful  temper  of  a  raw  soldier,  new  to  conflict  and  victory,  than 
this  Highland  warrior.  He  said  he  had  that  morning  been 
armor-bearer  to  the  Duke  of  Perth,  whose  valor  was  as  con 
spicuous  as  his  clemency ;  that  now  there  was  no  doubt  of 
their  final  success,  as  the  Almighty  had  blessed  them  with  this 
almost  bloodless  victory  on  their  part ;  that  He  had  made  the 
sun  to  shine  upon  them  uninterruptedly  since  their  first  setting 
out ;  that  no  brawling  woman  had  cursed,  nor  even  a  dog  had 
barked  at  them ;  that  not  a  cloud  had  interposed  between 
them  and  the  blessings  of  Heaven,  and  that  this  happy  morn 
ing  here  he  was  interrupted  in  his  harangue  by  observing 

in  the  street  a  couple  of  grooms  leading  four  fine  blood-horses. 
He  drew  a  pistol  from  his  belt,  and  darted  at  the  foremost  in  a 
moment.  "  Who  are  you,  sir  ?  and  where  are  you  going  ? 
and  whom  are  you  seeking  ?  "  It  was  answered  with  an  un 
covered  head  and  a  dastardly  tone,  "  I  am  Sir  John  Cope's 
coachman,  and  I  am  seeking  my  master."  "  You  '11  not  find 
him  here,  sir,  but  you  and  your  man  and  your  horses  are  my 
prisoners.  Go  directly  to  the  Collector's  house,  and  put  up 
your  horses  in  the  stable,  and  wait  till  I  return  from  a  piece 
of  public  service.  Do  this  directly,  as  you  regard  your  lives." 
They  instantly  obeyed.  A  few  paces  further  on  he  met  an 
officer's  servant  with  two  handsome  geldings  and  a  large  and 
full  clothes-bag.  Similar  questions  and  answers  were  made, 
and  we  found  them  all  in  the  place  to  which  they  were  or 
dered,  on  our  return. 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  121 

It  was  not  long  before  we  arrived  at  Cockenzie,  where,  un 
der  the  protection  of  my  guard,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
this  victorious  army.  In  general  they  were  of  low  stature 
and  dirty,  and  of  a  contemptible  appearance.  The  officers 
with  whom  I  mixed  were  gentleman-like,  and  very  civil  to  me, 
as  I  was  on  an  errand  of  humanity.  I  was  conducted  to 
Locheil,  who  was  polished  and  gentle,  and  who  ordered  a 
soldier  to  make  all  the  inquiry  he  could  about  the  medicine- 
chests  of  the  dragoons.  After  an  hour's  search,  we  returned 
without  finding  any  of  them,  nor  were  they  ever  afterwards 
recovered.  This  view  I  had  of  the  rebel  army  confirmed  me 
in  the  prepossession  that  nothing  but  the  weakest  and  most 
unaccountable  bad  conduct  on  our  part  could  have  possibly 
given  them  the  victory.  God  forbid  that  Britain  should  ever 
again  be  in  danger  of  being  overrun  by  such  a  despicable 
enemy,  for,  at  the  best,  the  Highlanders  were  at  that  time  but 
a  raw  militia,  who  were  not  cowards. 

On  our  return  from  looking  for  the  medicine-chests,  we  saw 
walking  on  the  sea-shore,  at  the  east  end  of  Prestonpans,  all 
the  officers  who  were  taken  prisoners.  I  then  saw  human 
nature  in  its  most  abject  form,  for  almost  every  aspect  bore  in 
it  shame,  and  dejection,  and  despair.  They  were  deeply  mor 
tified  with  what  had  happened,  and  timidly  anxious  about  the 
future,  for  they  were  doubtful  whether  they  were  to  be  treated 
as  prisoners  of  war  or  as  rebels.  I  ventured  to  speak  to  one 
of  them,  who  was  nearest  me,  a  Major  Severn  ;  for  Major 
Bowles,  my  acquaintance,  was  much  wounded,  and  at  the 
Collector's.  He  answered  some  questions  I  put  to  him  with 
civility,  and  I  told  him  what  errand  I  had  been  on,  and  with 
what  humanity  I  had  seen  the  wounded  officers  treated,  and 
ventured  to  assert  that  the  prisoners  would  be  well  used. 
The  confidence  with  which  I  spoke  seemed  to  raise  his  spirits, 
which  I  completed  by  saying  that  nothing  could  have  been 
6 


122  BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS. 

expected  but  what  had  happened,  when  the  foot  were  so 
shamefully  deserted  by  the  dragoons. 

Before  we  got  back  to  the  Collector's  house,  the  wounded 
officers  were  all  dressed ;  Captain  Blake's  head  was  trepanned, 
and  he  was  laid  in  bed,  for  they  had  got  instruments  from  a 
surgeon  who  lived  in  the  town,  of  whom  I  had  told  Cunning 
ham  ;  and  they  were  ordered  up  to  Bankton,  Colonel  Gardi 
ner's  house,  where  the  wounded  Highlanders  were,  and  also  the 
Honorable  Mr.  Sandilands.  Two  captains  of  ours  had  been 
killed  outright  besides  Gardiner  —  viz.  Captain  Stewart  of 
Physgill,  whose  wife  was  my  relation,  and  who  has  a  monu 
ment  for  him  erected  in  the  churchyard  of  Prestonpans  by 
his  father-in-law,  Patrick  Heron  of  Heron,  Esq. ;  the  other 
was  Captain  Brymer  of  Edrorn,  in  the  Merse. 

While  we  were  breakfasting  at  my  father's,  some  young 
friends  of  mine  called,  among  whom  was  James  Dunlop,  junr., 
of  Garnkirk,  my  particular  acquaintance  at  Glasgow.  He 
and  his  companions  had  ridden  through  the  field  of  battle,  and 
being  well  acquainted  with  the  Highland  chiefs,  assured  us 
there  was  no  danger,  as  they  were  civil  to  everybody.  My 
father,  who  was  impatient  till  he  saw  me  safe,  listened  to  this, 
and  immediately  ordered  the  horses.  We  rode  through  the 
field  of  battle  where  the  dead  bodies  still  lay,  between  eleven 
and  twelve  o'clock,  mostly  stripped.  There  were  about  two 
hundred,  we  thought.  There  were  only  slight  guards  and  a  few 
straggling  boys.  We  rode  along  the  field  to  Seaton,  and  met 
no  interruption  till  we  came  close  to  the  village,  when  four 
Highlanders  darted  out  of  it,  and  cried  in  a  wild  tone,  present 
ing  their  pieces,  "  Fourich,  fourich  1 "  (i.  e.  Stop,  stop  !)  By 
advice  of  our  Glasgow  friends  we  stopped,  and  gave  them 
shillings  apiece,  with  which  they  were  heartily  contented. 
We  parted  with  our  friends  and  rode  on,  and  got  to  Mr. 
Hamilton's,  minister  of  Bolton,  a  solitary  place  at  a  distance 


BATTLE  OF  PRESTONPANS.  123 

from  any  road,  by  two  o'clock,  and  remained  there  all  day. 
My  father,  having  time  to  recollect  himself,  fell  into  a  new 
anxiety,  for  he  then  called  to  mind  that,  besides  sundry  watches 
and  purses  which  he  had  taken  to  keep,  he  also  had  Pat.  Sim- 
son's  four  hundred  guineas.  After  many  proposals  and  pro 
jects,  and  among  the  rest  my  earnest  desire  to  return  alone,  it 
was  at  last  agreed  to  write  a  letter  in  Latin  to  John  Ritchie 
the  schoolmaster,  afterwards  minister  of  Abercorn,  and  instruct 
him  how  to  go  at  night  and  secrete  the  watches  and  purses  if 
still  there,  and  bury  the  saddle-bags  in  the  garden.  Ritchie 
was  also  requested  to  come  to  us  next  day. 

My  father  and  Mr.  Hamilton  carried  on  the  work  of  that 
day,  Sunday,  with  zeal,  and  not  only  prayed  fervently  for  the 
King,  but  warned  the  people  against  being  seduced  by  appear 
ances  to  believe  that  the  Lord  was  with  the  rebels,  and  that 
their  cause  would  in  the  end  be  prosperous.  But  no  sooner 
had  we  dined  than  my  father  grew  impatient  to  see  my  mother 
and  the  children,  Ritchie  having  written  by  the  messenger  that 
all  was  quiet.  He  wanted  to  go  alone,  but  that  I  could  not 
allow.  We  set  out  in  due  time,  and  arrived  before  it  was 
dark,  and  found  the  family  quite  well,  and  my  mother  in  good 
spirits.  She  was  naturally  strong-minded,  and  void  of  imagi 
nary  fears  ;  but  she  had  received  comfort  from  the  attention 
paid  to  her,  for  Captain  Stewart,  by  the  Duke  of  Perth's 
order,  as  he  said,  gave  one  of  his  ensigns,  a  Mr.  Brydone,  a 
particular  charge  of  our  family,  and  ordered  him  to  call  upon 
her  at  least  twice  a  day. 

"We  soon  began  to  think  of  my  father's  charge  of  watches 
and  money ;  and  when  it  was  dark  enough  I  went  into  the 
garden  to  look  for  the  place  where  Ritchie  had  buried  the 
saddle-bags.  This  was  no  difficult  search,  for  he  had  written 
us  that  they  were  below  a  particular  pear-tree.  To  be  sure, 
he  had  buried  the  treasure,  but  he  had  left  the  leather  beltsr 


124:  BATTLE  OF  PKESTONPANS. 

by  which  they  were  fixed  fully  above  ground,  so  that  if  the 
Highlanders  had  been  of  a  curious  or  prowling  disposition, 
they  must  have  discovered  this  important  sum. 

Soon  after  this  Ritchie  arrived.  He  had  set  out  for  Bolton 
early  in  the  afternoon ;  but  taking  a  different  road,  that  was 
nearer  for  people  on  foot,  he  did  not  meet  us,  and  had  re 
turned  immediately.  On  setting  out,  not  twenty  yards  from 
the  manse  of  Prestonpans,  he  was  stopped  by  a  single  High 
lander,  who  took  from  him  all  the  money  that  he  had,  which 
was  six  shillings ;  but  as  he  spared  his  watch,  he  was  con 
tented.  Not  long  after  came  in  my  mother's  guard,  Ensign 
Brydone,  a  well-looking,  sweet-tempered  young  man,  about 
twenty  years  of  age.  He  was  Captain  Stewart's  ensign. 
Finding  all  the  family  assembled  again,  he  resisted  my  moth 
er's  faint  invitation  to  supper.  She  replied  that  as  he  was  her 
guard,  she  hoped  he  would  come  as  often  as  he  could.  He 
promised  to  breakfast  with  us  next  morning.  He  came  at  the 
hour  appointed,  nine  o'clock.  My  mother's  custom  was  to 
mask  the  tea  before  morning  prayer,  which  she  did  ;  and  soon 
after  my  father  came  into  the  room  he  called  the  servants  to 
prayers.  We  knelt  down,  when  Brydone  turning  awkwardly, 
his  broadsword  swept  off  the  table  a  china  plate  with  a  roll 
of  butter  on  it.  Prayer  being  ended,  the  good  lady  did  not 
forget  her  plate,  but,  taking  it  up  whole,  she  said,  smiling,  and 
with  a  courtesy,  "  Captain  Brydone,  this  is  a  good  omen,  and 
I  trust  our  cause  will  be  as  safe  in  the  end  from  your  army  as 
my  plate  has  been  from  the  sweep  of  your  sword."  The 
young  man  bowed,  and  sat  down  to  breakfast  and  ate  heartily ; 
but  I  afterwards  thought  that  the  bad  success  of  his  sword 
and  my  mother's  application  had  made  him  thoughtful,  as 
Highlanders  are  very  superstitious. 

During  the  rest  of  the  week,  while  I  remained  at  home, 
finding  him  very  ignorant  of  history  and  without  political 


PRINCE  CHARLES  EDWARD.  125 

principles,  unless  it  was  a  blind  attachment  to  the  chief,  I 
thought  I  convinced  him,  in  the  many  walks  I  had  with  him, 
that  his  cause  would  in  the  end  be  unsuccessful.  I  learned 
afterwards,  that  though  he  marched  with  them  to  England,  he 
retired  before  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  and  appeared  no  more. 
He  was  a  miller's  son  near  Drummond  Castle. 

On  Tuesday,  and  not  sooner,  came  many  young  surgeons 
from  Edinburgh  to  dress  the  wounded  soldiers,  most  of  whom 
lay  on  straw  in  the  schoolroom.  As  almost  all  their  wounds 
were  with  the  broadsword,  they  had  suffered  little.  The  sur 
geons  returned  to  Edinburgh  in  the  evening,  and  came  back 
again  for  three  days.  As  one  of  them  was  Colin  Simson,  a 
brother  of  Patrick's,  the  clergyman  at  Fala,  and  apprentice  to 
Adam  Drummond  their  uncle,  we  trusted  him  and  his  com 
panions  with  the  four  hundred  guineas,  which  at  different 
times  they  carried  in  their  pockets  and  delivered  safe  to 
Captain  Adam  Drummond  of  Megginch,  then  a  prisoner  in 
Queensberry  House  in  the  Canongate. 

I  remained  at  home  all  this  week,  about  the  end  of  which 
my  friend  William  Sellar  came  from  Edinburgh  to  see  me, 
and  pressed  me  much  to  come  to  Edinburgh  and  stay  with 
him  at  his  father's  house.  Having  several  things  to  purchase 
to  prepare  for  my  voyage  to  Holland,  I  went  to  town  on  the 
following  Monday,  and  remained  with  him  till  Thursday. 
Besides  his  father  and  sisters,  there  lodged  in  the  house  Mr. 
Smith,  and  there  came  also  to  supper  every  night  his  son, 
afterwards  Mr.  Seton  of  Touch,  having  married  the  heiress 
of  that  name.  As  Prince  Charles  had  issued  a  proclamation 
allowing  all  the  Volunteers  of  Edinburgh  three  weeks,  during 
which  they  might  pay  their  court  to  him  at  the  Abbey,  and 
receive  a  free  pardon,  I  went  twice  down  to  the  Abbey  Court 
with  my  friend  about  twelve  o'clock,  to  wait  till  the  Prince 
should  come  out  of  the  Palace  and  mount  his  horse  to  ride  to 


126  PEINCE  CHARLES  EDWARD. 

the  east  side  of  Arthur  Seat  to  visit  his  army.  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  see  him  both  days,  one  of  which  I  was  close 
by  him  when  he  walked  through  the  guard.  He  was  a  good- 
looking  man,  of  about  five  feet  ten  inches ;  his  hair  was  dark- 
red,  and  his  eyes  black.  His  features  were  regular,  his 
visage  long,  much  sunburnt  and  freckled,  and  his  countenance 
thoughtful  and  melancholy.  He  mounted  his  horse  and  rode 
off  through  St.  Ann's  Yards  and  the  Duke's  Walk  to  his 
army.  There  was  no  crowd  after  him  —  about  three  or  four 
hundred  each  day.  By  that  time  curiosity  had  been  satisfied. 

In  the  house  where  I  lived  they  were  all  Jacobites,  and  I 
heard  much  of  their  conversation.  When  young  Sellar  and 
I  retired  from  them  at  night,  he  agreed  with  me  that  they  had 
less  ground  for  being  so  sanguine  and  upish  than  they  im 
agined.  The  Court  at  the  Abbey  was  dull  and  sombre  — 
the  Prince  was  melancholy ;  he  seemed  to  have  no  confidence 
in  anybody,  not  even  in  the  ladies,  who  were  much  his  friends  ; 
far  less  had  he  the  spirit  to  venture  to  the  High  Church  of 
Edinburgh  and  take  the  sacrament,  as  his  great-uncle  Charles 
II.  had  done  the  Covenant,  which  would  have  secured  him 
the  low-country  commons,  as  he  already  had  the  Highlanders 
by  attachment.  He  was  thought  to  have  loitered  too  long  at 
Edinburgh,  and,  without  doubt,  had  he  marched  immediately 
to  Newcastle,  he  might  have  distressed  the  city  of  London  not 
a  little.  But  besides  that  his  army  wanted  clothing  and  ne 
cessaries,  the  victory  at  Preston  put  an  end  to  his  authority. 
He  had  not  a  mind  fit  for  command  at  any  time,  far  less  to 
rule  the  Highland  chiefs  in  prosperity. 

I  returned  to  Prestonpans  on  Thursday,  and  as  I  was  to  set 
out  for  Newcastle  on  Monday  to  take  shipping  for  Holland,  I 
sent  to  Captain  Blake,  who  was  recovering  well,  to  tell  him 
that  if  he  had  any  letters  for  Berwick,  I  would  take  charge 
of  them.  He  prayed  me  to  call  on  him  immediately.  He 


INCIDENTS.  127 

said  he  was  quite  well,  and  complained  of  nothing  but  the 
pain  of  a  little  cut  he  had  got  on  one  of  his  fingers.  He  said 
he  would  trouble  me  with  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  Berwick,  and 
that  it  would  be  ready  on  Saturday  at  four  o'clock,  when  he 
begged  I  would  call  on  him.  I  went  at  the  hour,  and  found 
him  dressed  and  looking  well,  with  a  small  table  and  a  bottle 
and  glasses  before  him.  "  What !  "  says  I ;  "  Captain  Blake, 
are  you  allowed  to  drink  wine  ?  "  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  and  as  I 
expected  you,  I  postponed  my  few  glasses  till  I  should  drink 
to  your  good  journey."  To  be  sure,  we  drank  out  the  bottle 
of  claret ;  and  when  I  sent  to  inquire  for  him  on  Sunday,  he 
said  he  had  slept  better  than  ever.  I  never  saw  this  man 
more ;  but  I  heard  he  had  sold  out  of  the  army,  and  was 
married.  In  spring  1800,  when  the  King  was  very  ill,  and  in 
danger,  I  observed  in  the  papers  that  he  had  left  a  written 
message,  mentioning  the  wounds  he  had  received  at  the  battle 
of  Preston.  On  seeing  this,  I  wrote  to  him  as  the  only  living 
witness  who  could  attest  the  truth  of  his  note  left  at  St. 
James's.  I  had  a  letter  from  him  dated  the  1st  of  March 
that  year,  written  in  high  spirits,  and  inviting  me  to  Great 
George  Street,  Westminster,  where  he  hoped  we  would  un 
cork  a  bottle  with  more  pleasure  than  we  had  done  in  1745, 
but  to  come  soon,  for  he  was  verging  on  eighty-one.  He  died 
tin's  spring,  1802. 


CHAPTER    I  V. 

1745-1746:  AGE,  21-22. 

SETS  OFF  FOR  HOLLAND.  —  A  CORPORATION  DINNER  AT  NEWCASTLE.— 
ADVENTURES  AT  YARMOUTH.  —  LEYDEN  AND  THE  STUDENTS  THERE. 
—  JOHN  GREGORY.  —  JOHN  WILKES.  —  IMMATERIALITY  BAXTER.  — 
CHARLES  TOWNSHEND.  — DR.  AITKEN.  — RETURN  TO  BRITAIN.  —  FEL 
LOW-PASSENGERS. —  VlOLETTI  THE  DANCER.  —  TAKEN  TO  COURT. — 

LONDON  SOCIETY.  —  THE  LYONS.  —  LORD  HEATHFIELD.  —  SMOLLETT 
AND  JOHN  BLAIR.  —  SUPPERS  AT  THE  GOLDEN  BALL.  —  LONDON  GET 
TING  THE  NEWS  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  CULLODEN.  —  WlLLIAM  GUTHRIE 

AND  ANSON'S  VOYAGES.  —  BYRON'S  NARRATIVE.  —  THE  THEATRES 
AND  THEATRICAL  CELEBRITIES.  —  LITERARY  SOCIETY.  —  THOMSON. — 
ARMSTRONG.  —  SECKER. 

ON  Monday  morning,  the  9th  of  October,  old  style,  my 
father  and  I  set  out  for  Newcastle  on  horseback,  where  we 
arrived  on  Wednesday  to  dinner.  Having  secured  my  pas 
sage  on  board  a  small  vessel  going  to  Rotterdam,  that  was  to 
sail  whenever  there  was  a  convoy,  we  rode  to  Sunderland 
to  visit  some  emigrants  whom  we  understood  were  there,  and 
found  old  George  Buchan  and  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  William 
Grant,  afterwards  Lord  Advocate,  and  Lord  Prestongrange. 
We  dined  with  them,  and  were  told  that  Lord  Drummore  and 
many  others  of  our  friends  had  taken  up  their  residence  at 
Bishop  Auckland,  where  they  wished  to  have  been  had  there 
been  room.  Next  day  my  father  and  the  servant  set  out  on 
their  journey  home,  and  I  having  been  acquainted  with  some 
of  the  Common  Council  of  Newcastle,  was  invited  to  dine 
with  the  mayor  at  one  of  their  guild  dinners.  A  Mr.  Fen- 


NEWCASTLE  IN  1745.  129 

wick,  I  think,  was  mayor  that  year.  I  was  seated  at  the  end 
of  one  of  the  long  tables  in  the  same  room,  next  Mr.  John 
Simpson,  afterwards  Alderman  Simpson,  sheriff  of  New 
castle  for  that  year.  As  I  was  fresh  from  Scotland,  I  had  to 
answer  all  the  questions  that  were  put  to  me  concerning  the 
affairs  of  that  country,  and  I  saw  my  intelligence  punctually 
detailed  in  the  Newcastle  Journal  next  morning.  Of  that 
company  there  was  one  gentleman,  a  wine  merchant,  who  was 
alive  in  the  year  1797  or  1798;  when  happening  to  dine  with 
the  mayor,  the  subject  was  talked  of,  and  he  recollected  it 
perfectly. 

At  the  inn  where  I  slept  I  met  with  my  companion,  Bob 
Cunningham,  who  had  been  a  Volunteer  in  Edinburgh,  and 
with  Francis  Garden,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the 
rebels,  as  narrated  in  Home's  History.*  He  and  I  supped 
together  one  of  the  nights.  He  was  studying  law ;  but  his 
father  being  an  officer,  and  at  that  time  Lieutenant  of  Stirling 
Castle,  he  had  a  military  turn,  which  was  heightened  by  the 
short  campaign  he  had  made.  He  resented  the  bad  usage  his 
father's  nephew,  Murray  of  Broughton,  the  Pretender's  Sec 
retary,  had  given  him  during  the  day  he  was  a  captive,  and 
was  determined  to  become  a  volunteer  in  some  regiment  till 
the  rebellion  was  suppressed ;  but  expressed  a  strong  abhor 
rence  at  the  subordination  in  the  army,  and  the  mortifications 
to  which  it  exposed  a  man.  I  argued  that  he  ought  either  to 
return  immediately  to  his  studies,  or  fix  on  the  army  for  his 
profession,  and  stated  the  difference  between  modern  armies 
and  those  of  Greece  and  Rome,  with  which  his  imagination 

*  The  incident  is  mentioned  above,  p.  112.  Francis  Garden  was  raised 
to  the  bench  in  1764,  when  he  took  the  title  of  Lord  Gardenstone :  he  was 
author  of  miscellanies  in  prose  and  verse,  and  travelling  memorandums. 
The  immediately  following  sentences  might  seem  to  refer  to  him,  but  they 
are  intended  to  refer  to  Cunningham.  —  ED. 


130  SHIELDS  IN  1745. 

was  fired,  where  a  man  could  be  a  leading  citizen  and  a  great 
general  at  the  same  time.  He  debated  on  this  point  till  two 
in  the  morning  ;  and  though  he  did  not  confess  he  was  con 
vinced,  he  went  into  the  army  immediately,  and  rose  till  he 
became  a  general  of  horse  in  Ireland.  He  was,  at  the  time  I 
met  him,  very  handsome,  and  had  an  enlightened  and  ardent 
mind.  He  went  to  Durham  next  morning,  and  I  never  saw 
him  more. 

On  the  Tuesday  I  was  summoned  to  go  down  to  Shields, 
as  the  sloop  had  fallen  down  there,  and  was  to  sail  imme 
diately  with  the  London  convoy.  I  went  down  accordingly, 
and  had  to  live  for  six  days  with  the  rude  and  ignorant 
masters  of  colliers.  There  was  one  army  surgeon,  of  the 
name  of  Allan,  a  Stirling  man,  who  had  taken  his  passage, 
and  had  some  conversation.  At  last,  on  Monday,  the  14th  of 
October,  I  went  on  board  the  "  Blagdon  "  of  Newcastle,  Tim 
Whinny,  master,  who  boasted  that  his  vessel  had  ridden  out 
the  great  storm  of  January  29,  1739,  at  the  back  of  Inch- 
keith.  She  was  loaded  with  kits  of  butter  and  glass  bottles. 
I  was  the  only  passenger.  There  was,  besides  the  master,  a 
mate,  an  old  sailor,  and  two  boys.  As  we  let  the  great  ships 
go  out  before  us,  it  was  night  almost  before  we  got  over  the 
bar. 

Next  day,  the  weather  being  calm  and  moderate,  we  had  an 
agreeable  sail  along  the  coast  of  Yorkshire ;  in  the  evening, 
however,  the  gale  rose,  separated  the  fleet  of  about  eighty 
sail,  and  drove  us  off  shore.  We  passed  a  dreary  night  with 
sickness,  and  not  without  fear,  for  the  idle  boys  had  mislaid 
things,  and  it  was  two  hours  before  the  hatches  could  be 
closed.  The  gale  abated  in  the  morning,  and  about  midday 
we  made  for  the  coast  again,  but  did  not  come  in  with  the 
land  till  two  o'clock,  when  we  descried  the  Norfolk  coast,  and 
saw  many  ships  making  for  Yarmouth.  About  ten  at  night 


YARMOUTH  IN  1745.  131 

we  came  up  with  them,  and  found  them  to  be  part  of  the  fleet 
\vith  which  we  had  sailed  from  Shields.  Next  day,  Friday, 
the  18th,  we  came  into  Yarmouth  Roads,  when  the  master 
and  I  went  ashore  in  the  boat.  The  master  was  as  much  a 
stranger  there  as  I  was,  for  though  he  had  been  often  in  the 
roads,  he  had  never  gone  ashore.  This  town  is  handsome, 
and  lies  in  a  singular  situation.  It  stands  on  a  flat  plain, 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  sea.  It  is  an  oblong 
square,  about  a  mile  in  length,  and  a  third  part  as  broad. 
The  whole  length  is  intersected  by  three  streets,  which  are 
rather  too  narrow.  That  nearest  is  well  built,  and  lands  on 
the  market-place  to  the  north,  which  is  very  spacious,  and 
remarkably  well  provided  with  every  kind  of  vivres  for  the 
pot  and  the  spit. 

The  market-women  are  clean  beyond  example,  and  the 
butchers  themselves  dressed  with  great  neatness  indeed.  In 
short,  there  was  nothing  to  offend  the  eye  or  any  of  the  senses 
in  Yarmouth  market.  Very  genteel-looking  women  were 
providing  for  their  families.  But  the  quay,  which  is  on  the 
west  side  of  the  town,  and  lies  parallel  to  the  beach,  is  the 
most  remarkable  thing  about  the  town,  though  there  is  a  fine 
old  Gothic  church  in  the  market-place,  with  a  very  lofty 
steeple,  the  spire  of  wliich  is  crooked,  and  likewise  a  fine 
modern  chapel-of-ease  in  the  street  leading  to  it.  The  quay 
is  a  mile  long,  and  is  formed  by  a  river,  the  mouth  of  which, 
above  a  mile  distant,  at  the  village  of  Gorelston,  forms  the 
harbor.  The  largest  colliers  can  deliver  their  goods  at  the 
quay,  and  the  street  behind  it  has  only  one  row  of  the  hand 
somest  houses  in  the  town.  As  the  master  and  I  knew 
nobody,  we  went  into  the  house  of  a  Robin  Sad,  at  the  sign 
of  the  Three  Kings,  who,  standing  at  his  own  door  near  the 
south  end  of  the  quay,  had  such  an  inviting  aspect  and 
manner  that  I  could  not  resist  him.  His  house  was,  perhaps. 


132  YARMOUTH  IN  1745. 

not  second-best,  but  it  was  cleanly,  and  I  stayed  two  nights  with 
him.  He  entertained  me  much,  for  he  had  been  several  years 
a  mate  in  the  Mediterranean  in  his  youth,  and  was  vain 
and  boastful,  and  presumptuous  and  ignorant,  to  my  great 
delight. 

In  the  evening  two  men  had  come  into  the  house  and  drank 
a  pot  or  two  of  ale.  He  said  they  were  custom-house  officers, 
and  was  ill-pleased,  as  they  did  not  use  to  frequent  his  house, 
but  they  had  come  into  the  common  room  on  hearing  of  my 
being  in  the  house ;  and  though  they  sat  at  a  distance  from  the 
fireplace,  where  the  landlord  and  I  were,  they  could  hear  our 
conversation.  Next  morning,  after  nine,  they  came  again,  and 
with  many  apologies,  addressing  themselves  to  me,  said  they 
had  orders  from  the  Commissioners  to  inquire  my  name  and 
designation,  as  they  understood  I  was  going  beyond  sea  to 
Holland.  I  had  no  scruple  in  writing  it  down  to  them.  They 
returned  in  half  an  hour,  and  told  me  that  they  were  ordered 
to  carry  me  before  the  Lord  Mayor.  I  went  accordingly 
down  to  Justice  Hall,  where  I  waited  a  little  while  in  an  ante 
chamber,  and  overheard  my  landlord  Sad  under  examination. 
He  was  very  high  and  resentful  in  his  answers,  and  had  a 
tone  of  contempt  for  men  who,  he  said,  were  unfit  to  rule,  as 
they  did  not  know  the  value  of  any  coins  but  those  of  England. 
He  answered  with  a  still  more  saucy  pride,  when  they  asked 
him  what  expense  I  made,  and  in  the  end  told  them  exultingly 
that  I  had  ordered  him  to  buy  the  best  goose  in  the  market 
for  to-morrow's  dinner.  I  was  called  in  and  examined.  The 
Mayor  was  an  old  gray-headed  man,  of  a  mild  address.  He 
had  been  a  common  fisher,  and  had  become  very  rich,  though 
he  could  not  write,  but  signed  his  name  with  a  stamp.  After 
iny  examination,  under  which  I  had  nothing  to  conceal,  they 
told  me,  as  I  was  going  abroad,  they  were  obliged  to  tender 
me  the  oaths  or  detain  me.  I  objected  to  that,  as  they  had  no 


YARMOUTH  IN  1745.  133 

ground  of  suspicion,  and  offered  to  show  them  my  diploma  as 
Master  of  Arts  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and  a  Latin 
letter  from  the  University  of  Glasgow  to  any  Foreign  Univer 
sity  where  I  might  happen  to  go.  They  declined  looking  at 
them,  and  insisted  on  my  taking  the  oaths,  which  accordingly 
were  administered,  and  I  was  dismissed.  I  did  not  know  that 
the  habeas  corpus  was  not  then  suspended,  and  that  if  they 
had  detained  me  I  could  have  recovered  large  expenses  from 
them.  I  amused  myself  in  town  till  the  master  came  on 
t*hore,  when,  after  dinner,  we  walked  down  to  Gorleston,  the 
harbor  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  we  heard  of  three 
vessels  which  were  to  sail  without  convoy,  on  Monday,  with 
the  ebb  tide. 

I  stayed  this  night  with  landlord  Sad,  and  invited  the  master 
to  dine  with  us  next  day,  being  Sunday,  when  we  were  to 
have  our  fine  goose  roasted.  I  went  in  the  morning  to  their 
fine  chapel,  which  was  panelled  with  mahogany,  and  saw  a 
very  populous  audience.  The  service  and  the  sermon  were 
but  so  so.  Tim  Whinny  came  in  good  time,  and  we  were  on 
board  by  four  o'clock,  and  fell  down  opposite  the  harbor  of 
Gorleston.  As  the  three  colliers  which  were  to  venture  over 
to  Holland  without  convoy  were  bound  for  a  different  port 
from  Helvoet,  which  was  our  object,  our  master  spent  all  the 
morning  of  Monday  making  inquiry  for  any  ship  that  was 
going  where  we  were  bound,  ancT  ranged  the  coast  down  as 
far  as  Lowestoff  for  this  purpose,  but  was  disappointed.  This 
made  us  so  late  of  sailing,  that  the  three  ships  which  took 
through  the  gat  or  opening  between  sand-banks,  were  almost 
out  of  sight  before  we  ventured  to  sail.  Tim's  caution  was 
increased  by  his  having  his  whole  property  on  board,  which 
he  often  mentioned.  At  last,  after  a  solemn  council  on  the 
quarter-deck,  where  I  gave  my  voice  strongly  for  our  imme 
diate  departure,  we  followed  the  track  of  the  three  ships,  the 


134  ROTTERDAM. 

last  of  which  was  still  in  sight ;  and  having  a  fine  night,  with 
a  fair  breeze  of  wind,  we  came  within  sight  of  land  at  ten 
o'clock  next  day.  The  shore  is  so  flat,  and  the  country  so 
level,  that  one  sees  nothing  on  approaching  it  but  tops  of 
steeples  and  masts  of  ships.  Early  in  the  afternoon  I  got  on 
shore  at  Helvoet,  on  the  island  of  Voorn,  and  put  up  at  an 
English  house,  where  one  Fell  was  the  landlord. 

There  I  saw  the  first  specimen  of  Dutch  cleanliness,  so 
little  to  be  expected  in  a  small  seaport.  As  I  wished  to  be 
as  soon  as  I  could  at  Rotterdam,  I  quitted  my  friend  Tim 
Whinny  to  come  up  at  his  leisure,  and  went  on  board  the 
Rotterdam  schuyt  at  nine  in  the  morning,  and  arrived  there  in 
a  few  hours.  The  beauty  of  this  town,  and  of  the  river  Maas 
that  flows  by  it  and  forms  its  harbor,  is  well  known.  The 
sight  of  the  Boompjes,  and  of  the  canals  that  carry  shipping 
through  the  whole  town,  surprised  and  pleased  me  much.  I 
had  been  directed  to  put  up  at  Caters,  an  English  house,  where 
I  took  up  my  lodgings  accordingly,  and  adhered  to  it  in  the 
two  or  three  trips  I  made  afterwards  to  this  city,  and  found  it 
an  exceeding  good  house,  where  the  expense  was  moderate, 
and  everything  good.  In  the  afternoon  I  inquired  for  Mr. 
Robert  Herries,  on  whom  I  had  my  credit,  and  found  his 
house  on  the  Scotch  Dyke,  after  passing  in  the  doit-boat  over 
the  canal  that  separates  it  from  the  end  of  the  Boompjes. 

From  Mr.  Herries  I  met  with  a  very  kind  reception.  He 
was  a  handsome  young  man,  of  a  good  family  in  Annandale, 
who  had  not  succeeded  in  business  at  Dumfries,  and  had  been 
sent  over  by  my  uncle  Provost  George  Bell,  of  that  town,  as 
their  agent  and  factor,  —  as  at  that  time  they  dealt  pretty 
deep  in  the  tobacco  trade.  He  had  immediately  assimilated 
to  the  manners  of  the  Dutch,  and  was  much  respected  among 
them.  He  lived  in  a  very  good  house,  with  a  Mr.  Robertson 
and  his  wife  from  Aberdeen,  —  very  sensible,  good  sort  of 


ROTTERDAM.  135 

people.  They  took  very  much  to  me,  and  insisted  on  my 
dining  with  them  every  day.  Next  door  to  them  lived  a  Mr. 
Livingston,  from  Aberdeen  also,  who  was  thought  to  be  rich. 
His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Kennedy,  one  of  the  min 
isters  of  the  Scotch  Church.  She  was  a  very  handsome  and 
agreeable  woman ;  and  neither  of  the  ladies  having  children, 
they  had  little  care,  and  lived  a  very  sociable  and  pleasant  life, 
especially  my  landlady,  whose  attractions  consisted  chiefly  in 
good  sense  and  good  temper.  Our  neighbor  being  young  and 
gay  as  well  as  handsome,  had  not  quite  so  much  liberty.  Mr. 
Herries  and  his  friends  advised  me  to  remain  some  days  with 
them,  because,  our  king's  birthday  having  happened  lately,  the 
British  students  were  to  have  a  grand  entertainment,  and  it 
was  better  for  me  to  escape  the  expense  that  might  be  incurred 
by  going  there  too  soon.  Besides,  I  had  to  equip  myself  in 
clothes,  and  with  a  sword  and  other  necessaries,  with  which  I 
could  be  better  and  cheaper  supplied  at  Rotterdam  than  at 
Leyden.  I  took  their  advice,  and  they  were  so  obliging  as 
to  have  new  company  for  me  every  day,  among  whom  were 
Mess.  Kennedy,  and  Ainslie  his  colleague  ;  the  first  was  pop 
ular,  and  pompous,  and  political,  and  an  Irishman.  The 
second  was  a  plain,  sensible  Scotchman,  less  sought  after,  but 
more  respectable  than  his  colleague.  During  my  stay  at 
Rotterdam  I  was  informed  of  everything,  and  saw  everything 
that  was  new  or  curious. 

Travelling  in  Holland  by  means  of  the  canals  is  easy  and 
commodious ;  and  though  the  country  is  so  flat  that  one  can 
see  to  no  distance,  yet  the  banks  of  the  canals,  especially  as 
you  approach  the  cities,  are  so  much  adorned  with  pleasure- 
houses  and  flower-gardens  as  to  furnish  a  constant  succession, 
not  of  the  grand  and  sublime  or  magnificent  works  of  nature, 
but  of  a  profusion  of  the  rich  and  gaudy  effects  of  opulence 
without  taste.  When  I  arrived  at  Leyden,  which  was  in  a 


136  LEYDEN. 

few  hours,  I  found  my  lodgings  ready,  having  had  a  corre 
spondence  from  Rotterdam  with  Thomas  Dickson,  M.  D., 
afterwards  my  brother-in-law.  They  were  in  the  house  of  a 
Madame  Vandertasse,  on  the  Long  Bridge.  There  were  in 
her  house  besides,  Dr.  Dickson,  Dr.  John  Gregory,  Mr.  Nich 
olas  Monckly,  and  a  Mr.  Skirrat,  student  of  law.  Vander- 
tasse's  was  an  established  lodging-house,  her  father  and  moth 
er  having  carried  on  that  business,  so  that  we  lived  very  well 
there  at  a  moderate  rate  —  that  is,  sixteen  stivers  for  dinner, 
two  for  coffee,  six  for  supper  and  for  breakfast.  She  was  a 
lively  little  Frenchwoman,  about  thirty-six,  had  been  tolerably 
well-looking,  and  was  plump  and  in  good  condition.  As  she 
had  only  one  maid-servant,  and  five  gentlemen  to  provide  for, 
she  led  an  active  and  laborious  life ;  insomuch  that  she  had 
but  little  time  for  her  toilet,  except  in  the  article  of  the  coif, 
which  no  Frenchwoman  omits.  But  on  Sundays,  when  she 
had  leisure  to  dress  herself  for  the  French  Church,  either  in 
the  morning  or  evening,  then  who  but  Mademoiselle  Vander 
tasse  !  She  spoke  English  perfectly  well,  as  the  guests  of  the 
house  had  been  mostly  British. 

As  I  had  come  last,  I  had  the  worst  bedchamber.  Besides 
board,  we  paid  pretty  high  for  our  rooms,  and  dearest  of  all 
for  fuel,  which  was  chiefly  peat.  We  had  very  good  small 
claret  at  a  shilling  a  bottle,  giving  her  the  benefit  of  our  ex 
emption  from  town  duty  for  sixty  stoups  of  wine  for  every 
student.  Our  house  was  in  high  repute  for  the  best  coffee,  so 
that  our  friends  were  pleased  when  they  were  invited  to  par 
take  with  us  of  that  delicious  beverage.  We  had  no  company 
to  dinner ;  but  in  the  evenings  about  a  dozen  of  us  met  at  one 
another's  rooms  in  turn  three  times  a  week,  and  drank  coffee, 
and  smoked  tobacco,  and  chatted  about  politics,  and  drank 
claret,  and  supped  on  bukkam  (Dutch  red-herrings),  and  eggs, 
and  salad,  and  never  sat  later  than  twelve  o'clock  —  at  Mr. 


THE  BEITISH  STUDENTS.  137 

Gowan's,  the  clergyman,  never  later  than  ten,  unless  when  we 
deceived  him  by  making  such  a  noise  when  the  hour  was  ring 
ing  as  prevented  his  hearing  it. 

Though  I  had  not  been  acquainted  with  John  Gregory  for 
merly,  which  was  owing  to  my  two  winters'  residence  at  Glas 
gow  when  he  was  in  Edinburgh,  yet,  as  he  knew  most  of  my 
friends  there,  we  soon  became  intimate  together,  and  generally 
passed  two  hours  every  forenoon  in  walking.  His  friend 
Monckly  being  very  fat,  and  a  bad  walker,  could  not  follow 
us.  There  were  at  this  time  about  twenty-two  British  students 
at  Leyden,  of  whom,  besides  the  five  at  our  house  already 
named,  were  the  Honorable  Charles  Townshend,  afterwards  a 
distinguished  statesman  and  husband  to  Lady  Dalkeith,  the 
mother  of  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch ;  Mr.  James  Johnston, 
junior,  of  Westerhall ;  Dr.  Anthony  Askew ;  John  Campbell, 
junior,  of  Stonefield ;  his  tutor  Mr.  Morton,  afterwards  a  pro 
fessor  at  St.  Andrews ;  John  Wilkes,  his  companion  Mr.  Bland, 
and  their  tutor  Mr.  Lyson ;  Mr.  Freeman  from  Jamaica ;  Mr. 
Doddeswell,  afterwards  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer;  Mr. 
Wetherell  from  the  West  Indies ;  Dr.  Charles  Congalton,  to 
this  day  physician  in  Edinburgh ;  an  Irish  gentleman,  Keefe, 
I  think,  in  his  house ;  Willie  Gordon,  afterwards  K.  B.,  with 
four  or  five  more,  whose  names  I  have  forgot,  and  who  did 
not  associate  with  my  friends. 

On  the  first  Sunday  evening  I  was  in  Leyden,  I  walked 
round  the  Cingle  —  a  fine  walk  on  the  outside  of  the  Rhine, 
which  formed  the  wet  ditch  of  the  town — with  John  Gregory, 
who  introduced  me  to  the  British  students  as  we  met  them, 
not  without  giving  me  a  short  character  of  them,  which  I 
found  in  general  a  very  just  outline.  When  we  came  to  John 
Wilkes,  whose  ugly  countenance  in  early  youth  was  very  strik 
ing,  I  asked  earnestly  who  he  was.  His  answer  was,  that  he 
was  the  son  of  a  London  distiller  or  brewer,  who  wanted  to 


138  LEYDEN. 

be  a  fine  gentleman  and  man  of  taste,  which  he  could  never 
be,  for  God  and  nature  had  been  against  him.  I  came  to 
know  Wilkes  very  well  afterwards,  and  found  him  to  be  a 
sprightly,  entertaining  fellow,  —  too  much  so  for  his  years,  as 
he  was  but  eighteen  ;  for  even  then  he  showed  something  of 
daring  profligacy,  for  which  he  was  afterwards  notorious. 
Though  he  was  fond  of  learning,  and  passionately  desirous  of 
being  thought  something  extraordinary,  he  was  unlucky  in 
having  an  old,  ignorant  pedant  of  a  dissenting  parson  for  his 
tutor.  This  man,  a  Mr.  Leeson  or  Lyson,  had  been  singled 
out  by  the  father  as  the  best  tutor  in  the  world  for  his  most 
promising  son,  because,  at  the  age  of  threescore,  after  studying 
controversy  for  more  than  thirty  years,  he  told  his  congrega 
tion  that  he  was  going  to  leave  them,  and  would  tell  them  the 
reason  next  Sunday ;  when,  being  fully  convened,  he  told  them 
that,  with  much  anxiety  and  care,  he  had  examined  the  Arian 
controversy,  and  was  now  convinced  that  the  creed  he  had 
read  to  them  as  his  creed  was  false,  and  that  he  had  now 
adopted  that  of  the  Arians,  and  was  to  bid  them  farewell. 
The  people  were  shocked  with  this  creed,  and  not  so  sorry  as 
they  would  otherwise  have  been  to  part  with  him,  for  he  was 
a  good-natured,  well-meaning  man.  His  chief  object  seemed 
to  be  to  make  Wilkes  an  Arian  also,  and  he  teased  him  so 
much  about  it  that  he  was  obliged  to  declare  that  he  did  not 
believe  the  Bible  at  all,  which  produced  a  quarrel  between 
them,  and  Wilkes,  for  refuge,  went  frequently  to  Utrecht, 
where  he  met  with  Immateriality  Baxter,  as  he  was  called, 
who  then  attended  Lord  Blantyre  and  Mr.  Hay  of  Drummel- 
lier,  as  he  had  formerly  done  Lord  John  Gray. 

This  gentleman  was  more  to  Wilkes's  taste  than  his  own 
tutor ;  for  though  he  was  a  profound  philosopher  and  a  hard 
student,  he  was  at  the  same  time  a  man  of  the  world,  and  of 
such  pleasing  conversation  as  attracted  the  young.  Baxter 


THE  BRITISH  STUDENTS.  139 

was  so  much  pleased  with  Wilkes  that  he  dedicated  one  of  his 
pieces  to  him.  He  died  in  1750,  which  fact  leads  me  to 
correct  an  error  in  the  account  of  Baxter's  life,  in  which  he 
is  much  praised  for  his  keeping  well  with  Wilkes,  though  he 
had  given  so  much  umbrage  to  the  Scotch.  But  this  is  a 
gross  mistake,  for  the  people  of  that  nation  were  always 
Wilkes's  favorites  till  1763,  thirteen  years  after  Baxter's 
death,  when  he  became  a  violent  party-writer,  and  wished 
to  raise  his  fame  and  fortune  on  the  ruin  of  Lord  Bute.* 

Wilkes  was  very  fond  of  shining  in  conversation  very  pre 
maturely,  for  at  that  time  he  had  but  little  knowledge  except 
what  he  derived  from  Baxter  in  his  frequent  visits  to  Utrecht. 
In  the  art  of  shining,  however,  he  was  much  outdone  by 
Charles  Townshend,  who  was  not  above  a  year  older,  and  had 
still  less  furniture  in  his  head  ;  but  then  his  person  and  man 
ners  were  more  engaging.  He  had  more  wit  and  humor,  and 
a  turn  for  mimicry ;  and,  above  all,  had  the  talent  of  trans 
lating  other  men's  thoughts,  which  they  had  produced  in  the 
simple  style  of  conversation,  into  the  most  charming  language, 
which  not  only  took  the  ear,  but  elevated  the  thoughts.  No 
person  I  ever  knew  nearly  equalled  Charles  Townshend  in 
this  talent  but  Dr.  Robertson,  who,  though  he  had  a  very  great 
fund  of  knowledge  and  thought  of  his  own,  was  yet  so  pas- 

*  The  friendship  here  alluded  to  is  interesting,  as  affording  evidence  that 
Wilkes  had  been  able  to  attach  to  himself  at  least  one  virtuous  and  enlight 
ened  friend.  Baxter  afterwards  wrote  to  him  thus :  "  We  talked  much  on 
this,  you  may  remember,  in  the  capuchin's  garden  at  Spa.  I  have  finished 
the  Prima  Cura ;  it  is  in  the  dialogue  way,  and  design  to  inscribe  it  to  my 
dear  John  Wilkes,  whom,  under  a  borrowed  name,  I  have  made  one  of  the 
interlocutors.  If  you  are  against  this  whim  (which  a  passionate  love  for 
you  has  made  me  conceive),  I  will  drop  it." —  Wilkes's  Correspondence, 
i.  15.  Wilkes  does  not  appear  to  have  been  against  this  whim.  The  "  Ap 
pendix  to  the  First  Part  of  the  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  of  the  Human  Soul " 
appeared  in  1750,  within  a  few  months  after  this  letter  was  written.  Its 
author  did  not  live  to  see  it  printed,  but  it  contains  the  dedication.  —  ED. 


140  LEYDEN. 

sionately  fond  of  shining,  that  he  seized  what  was  nearest  at 
hand  —  the  conversation  of  his  friends  of  that  morning  or  the 
day  before  —  and  embellished  it  with  such  rich  language,  that 
they  hardly  knew  it  again  themselves,  insomuch  that  he  was 
the  greatest  plagiary  in  conversation  that  ever  I  knew.  It  is 
to  this,  probably,  that  his  biographer  alludes  (his  strong  itch 
for  shining)  when  he  confesses  he  liked  his  conversation  best 
when  he  had  not  an  audience.* 

Gregory's  chum,  Dr.  Monckly,  had  this  talent  too,  and  ex 
ercised  it  so  as  to  bring  on  him  the  highest  ridicule.  He  was 
in  reality  an  ignorant,  vain  blockhead,  who  had  the  most  pas 
sionate  desire  of  shining,  which  Gregory  was  entirely  above. 
His  usual  method  was  to  get  Gregory  into  his  room,  either 
before  or  after  breakfast,  when  he  settled  with  him  what  were 
to  be  the  leading  topics  of  the  day,  especially  at  our  coffee 
parties  and  our  club  suppers,  for  we  soon  broke  him  of  his 
attempt  to  shine  at  dinner.  Having  thus  settled  everything 
with  Gregory,  and  heard  his  opinion,  he  let  him  go  a-walking 
with  me,  and  jotted  down  the  topics  and  arguments  he  had 
heard.  The  very  prospect  of  the  glory  he  was  to  earn  in  the 
evening  made  him  contented  and  happy  all  day.  Gregory 
kept  his  secret  as  I  did,  who  was  generally  let  into  it  in  our 
walk,  and  prayed  not  to  contradict  the  fat  man,  which  I  seldom 
did  when  he  was  not  too  provoking.  Unfortunately,  one  night 
Gregory  took  it  into  his  head  to  contradict  him  when  he  was 
haranguing  very  pompously  on  tragedy  or  comedy,  or  some 

*  In  allusion  evidently  to  the  following  passage  in  Dugald  Stewart's 
account  of  the  life  and  writings  of  Robertson.  —  ED.  "  In  the  company  of 
strangers  he  increased  his  exertions  to  amuse  and  inform;  and  the  splendid 
variety  of  his  conversation  was  commonly  the  chief  circumstance  on  which 
they  dwelt  in  enumerating  his  talents ;  and  yet  I  must  acknowledge,  for  my 
own  part,  that,  much  as  I  always  admired  his  powers,  when  they  were  thus 
called  forth,  I  enjoyed  his  society  less  than  when  I  saw  him  in  the  circle  of 
his  intimates,  or  in  the  bosom  of  his  family." 


THE  BEITISH  STUDENTS.  141 

subject  of  criticism.  The  poor  man  looked  as  if  he  had  been 
shot,  and  after  recovering  himself,  said  with  a  ghastly  smile, 
"  Surely  this  was  not  always  your  opinion."  Gregory  per 
sisted,  and  after  saying  that  criticism  was  a  subject  on  which 
he  thought  it  lawful  to  change,  he  entirely  refuted  the  poor 
undone  doctor :  not  another  word  did  he  utter  the  whole 
evening.  He  had  his  coffee  in  his  room  next  morning,  and 
sent  for  Gregory  before  we  left  the  parlor.  I  waited  for  an 
hour,  when  at  last  he  joined  me,  and  told  me  he  had  been 
rated  at  no  allowance  by  the  fat  man  ;  and  when  he  defended 
himself  by  saying  that  he  had  gone  far  beyond  the  bounds 
prescribed,  the  poor  soul  fell  into  tears,  and  said  he  was  un 
done,  as  he  had  lost  the  only  friend  he  had  in  the  world.  It 
cost  Gregory  some  time  to  comfort  him  and  to  exhort  him,  by 
exacting  from  him  some  deference  to  himself  at  our  future 
parties  (for  the  blockhead  till  then  had  never  so  much  as  said 
what  is  your  opinion  on  this  subject,  Dr.  Gregory).  A  new 
settlement  was  made  between  them,  and  we  went  on  very 
well ;  for  when  some  of  the  rest  were  debating  bond  fide  with 
the  absurd  animal,  I,  who  was  in  the  secret,  gave  him  line  and 
encouragement  till  he  had  got  far  beyond  his  depth,  while 
Gregory  was  sitting  silent  in  a  corner,  and  never  interposed 
till  he  was  in  danger  of  being  drowned  in  the  mud.  This 
may  seem  a  cruel  amusement,  but  I  forgave  Gregory,  for 
there  was  no  living  with  Monckly  without  it. 

We  passed  our  time  in  general  very  agreeably,  and  very 
profitably  too ;  for  the  conversations  at  our  evening  meetings 
of  young  men  of  good  knowledge,  intended  for  different  pro 
fessions,  could  not  fail  to  be  instructive,  much  more  so  than 
the  lectures,  which,  except  two,  that  of  civil  law  and  that  of 
chemistry,  were  very  dull.  I  asked  Gregory  why  he  did  not 
attend  the  lectures,  which  he  answered  by  asking  in  his  turn 
why  I  did  not  attend  the  divinity  professors  (for  there  were  no 


142  LEYDEN. 

less  than  four  of  them).  Having  heard  all  they  could  say  in 
a  much  better  form  at  home,  we  went  but  rarely,  and  for 
form's  sake  only,  to  hear  the  Dutchmen.  At  this  time  we 
were  in  great  anxiety  about  the  Rebellion,  and  were  frequently 
three  or  four  weeks  without  getting  a  packet  from  England ; 
insomuch  that  Gregory  and  I  agreed  to  make  a  trip  to  Rot 
terdam  to  learn  if  they  had  heard  anything  by  fishing-boats. 
We  went  one  day  and  returned  the  next,  without  learning 
anything.  We  dined  with  my  agreeable  friends  on  the  Scotch 
Dyke,  Herries  and  Robertson.  In  returning  in  the  schuyt,  I 
said  to  Gregory  that  he  would  be  laughed  at  for  having  gone 
so  far  and  having  brought  back  no  news,  but  if  he  would  sup 
port  me  I  would  frame  a  gazette.  He  promised,  and  I  imme 
diately  wrote  a  few  paragraphs,  which  I  said  I  had  copied 
from  Allan  the  banker's  private  letter  he  had  got  by  a  fishing- 
boat.  This  was  to  impose  on  Dr.  Askew,  for  Allan  was  his 
banker.  I  took  care  also  to  make  Admiral  Townshend  take 
two  ships  of  the  line  at  Newfoundland,  for  he  was  Charles 
Townshend's  uncle,  and  so  on  with  the  rest  of  our  friends. 
On  our  arrival  they  all  assembled  at  our  lodging,  and  our 
news  passed  current  for  all  that  day.  At  night  we  disclosed 
our  fabrication,  being  unable  to  hold  out  any  longer.  On 
another  occasion  I  went  down  with  Dr.  Askew,  who,  as  a 
learned  man  of  twenty-eight,  had  come  over  to  Leyden  to  col 
late  manuscripts  of  JEschylus  for  a  new  edition.  His  father 
had  given  him  £10,000  in  the  stocks,  so  that  he  was  a  man 
of  importance.  Askew's  errand  at  this  time  was  to  cheat  his 
banker  Allan,  as  he  said  he  would  draw  on  him  for  £100, 
which  he  did  not  want,  because  Exchange  was  at  that  time 
against  Holland.  In  vain  did  I  try  to  persuade  him  that  the 
banker  would  take  care  not  to  lose  by  him.  But"  he  persisted, 
such  being  the  skill  in  business  of  this  eminent  Grecian.  He 
had  some  drollery,  but  neither  much  sense  nor  useful  learning. 


THE  BRITISH   STUDENTS.  143 

He  was  much  alarmed  when  the  Highlanders  got  as  far  as 
Derby,  and  believed  that  London  would  be  taken  and  the 
bank  ruined.  I  endeavored  in  vain  to  raise  his  spirits  ;  at 
last  I  told  him  that  personally  I  did  not  much  care,  for  I  had 
nothing  to  lose,  and  would  not  return  to  Britain  under  a  bad 
Government.  You  are  the  very  man  I  wrant,  says  he,  for  I 
have  £400  or  £500  worth  of  books,  and  some  name  as  a 
Greek  scholar.  We'll  begin  bookselling,  and  you  shall  be 
my  partner  and  auctioneer.  This  was  soon  settled,  and  as  soon 
forgot  when  the  rebels  marched  back  from  Derby.  When 
Gregory  and  I  were  alarmed  at  some  of  the  expensive  suppers 
some  of  our  friends  gave  from  the  taverns,  we  went  to  Askew, 
whose  turn  was  next,  and  easily  persuaded  him  to  limit  his 
suppers  to  eggs  and  bukkam  and  salad,  which  he  accordingly 
gave  us  next  night,  which,  with  tobacco  of  forty  stivers  a  pound 
and  very  good  claret,  pleased  us  all.  After  this  no  more  fine 
suppers  were  presented,  and  Gowans,  the  old  minister  of  the 
Scottish  Church,  ventured  to  be  of  our  number,  and  was  very 
pleasant. 

I  went  twice  to  the  Hague,  which  was  then  a  very  delight 
ful  place.  Here  I  met  with  my  kinsman,  Willie  Jardine,  now 
Sir  William,  who  was  a  cornet  in  the  Prince  of  Orange's 
Horse  Guards,  and  then  a  very  handsome,  genteel  fellow,  for 
as  odd  as  he  has  turned  out  since.  Though,  I  had  no  intro 
duction  to  anybody  there,  and  no  acquaintance  but  the  two 
students  who  accompanied  me  the  first  time,  I  thought  it  a 
delightful  place.  A  ball  that  was  given  about  this  time  by 
the  Imperial  Ambassador,  on  the  Empress's  birthday,  was 
fatal  to  one  of  our  students,  —  a  very  genteel,  agreeable  rake, 
as  ever  I  saw,  from  the  West  Indies.  At  a  preceding  dan 
cing  assembly  he  had  been  taken  out  by  a  Princess  of  Wai- 
deck,  and  had  acquitted  himself  so  well  that  she  procured  him 
an  invitation  to  the  birthday  ball,  and  engaged  him  to  dance 


144  LEYDEN. 

with  her.  He  had  run  himself  out  a  good  deal  before ;  and  a 
fine  suit  of  white  and  silver,  which  cost  £  60,  completed  his 
distress,  and  he  was  obliged  to  retire  without  showing  it  to  us 
more  than  once.  There  was  another  "West  Indian  there,  a 
Mr.  Freeman,  a  man  of  fortune,  sedate  and  sensible.  He  was 
very  handsome  and  well-made.  Having  been  three  years  in 
Leyden,  he  was  the  best  skater  there.  There  was  an  East 
India  captain  resident  in  that  city,  whom  the  Dutch  set  up  as 
a  rival  to  Freeman,  and  they  frequently  appeared  on  the 
Rhine  together.  The  Dutchman  was  tall  and  jolly,  but  very 
active  withal.  The  ladies,  however,  gave  the  palm  to  Free 
man,  who  was  so  handsome,  and  having  a  figure  much  like 
Garrick,  all  his  motions  were  perfectly  genteel.  This  gentle 
man,  after  we  left  Leyden,  made  the  tour  of  Italy,  Sicily,  and 
Greece,  with  Willie  Gordon  and  Doddeswell ;  the  former  of 
whom  told  me  long  afterwards  that  he  had  died  soon  after  he 
returned  to  Jamaica,  which  was  Gordon's  own  native  country, 
though  his  parents  were  Scotch,  and  cousins  of  Gordon  of 
Hawhead,  in  Aberdeenshire.  Pie  was  too  young  and  too  dis 
sipated  to  attend  our  evening  meetings ;  neither  did  Charles 
Corigalton,  who  was  one  of  the  best  young  men  I  have  ever 
known.  His  pretence  was  that  he  could  not  leave  his  Irish 
chum  of  the  name  of  Keefe ;  but  the  truth  was,  that  having 
been  bred  a  JacoJ)ite,  and  having  many  friends  and  relations 
in  the  Rebellion,  he  did  not  like  to  keep  company  with  those 
who  were  warm  friends  to  Government.  Dickson  and  he 
were  my  companions  on  a  tour  to  Amsterdam,  where  we  stayed 
only  three  days,  and  were  much  pleased  with  the  magnificence, 
wealth,  and  trade  of  that  city.  Dickson  was  a  very  honest 
fellow,  but  rather  dull,  and  a  hard  student.  As  I  commonly 
sat  up  an  hour  after  the  rest  had  gone  to  their  rooms,  chatting 
or  reading  French  with  Mademoiselle,  and  as  Dickson's  apart 
ment  was  next  the  parlor,  he  complained  much  of  the  noise 


THE  BRITISH   STUDENTS.  145 

we  made,  laughing  and  talking,  because  it  disturbed  him,  who 
was  a  midnight  student.  He  broke  in  upon  us  with  imperti 
nent  curiosity,  but  I  drove  him  to  his  bed,  and  by  sitting  up 
an  hour  longer  that  night,  and  making  more  noise  than  usual, 
we  reduced  him  to  patience  and  close  quarters  ever  after,  and 
we  made  less  noise.  I  mentioned  somewhere  that  Mademoi 
selle  had  paid  for  her  English,  which  was  true,  for  she  had 
an  affair  with  a  Scotch  gentleman  ten  or  twelve  years  before, 
and  had  followed  him  to  Leith  on  pretence  of  a  promise, 
of  which,  however,  she  made  nothing  but  a  piece  of 
money. 

At  Christmas  time,  three  or  four  of  us  passed  three  days  at 
Rotterdam,  where  my  friends  were  very  agreeable  to  my 
companions.  Young  Kennedy,  whom  we  had  known  at  Am 
sterdam,  was  visiting  his  father  at  this  time,  as  well  as  young 
Ainslie,  the  other  minister's  son,  which  improved  our  parties. 
Mrs.  Kennedy,  the  mother,  was  ill  of  a  consumption,  and 
British  physicians  being  in  great  credit  there,  Monckly,  who 
was  called  Doctor,  though  he  had  not  taken  his  degree,  being 
always  more  forward  than  anybody  in  showing  himself  off, 
was  pitched  upon  by  Mr.  Kennedy  to  visit  his  wife.  Gregory, 
who  was  really  a  physician,  and  had  acquired  both  knowledge 
and  skill  by  having  been  an  apprentice  in  his  brother's  shop 
at  Aberdeen,  a.nd  visited  the  patients  with  him,  was  kept  in 
the  background  ;  but  he  was  anxiously  consulted  by  Monckly 
twice  a  day,  and  taught  him  his  lesson,  which  he  repeated 
exactly,  for  I  heard  him  two  or  three  times,  being  a  familiar 
in  the  house,  while  the  good  Doctor  was.  unconscious  that  I 
knew  of  his  secret  oracle.  For  all  this,  Monckly  was  only 
ridiculous  on  account  of  his  childish  vanity,  and  his  love  of 
showing  himself  off.  He  was,  in  reality,  a  very  good-natured 
and  obliging  man,  of  much  benevolence  as  well  as  courtesy. 
He  practised  afterwards  in  London  with  credit,  for  they  cured 
7  j 


146  LEYDEN. 

him  of  his  affectation  at  Batson's.  He  died  not  many  years 
after. 

At  this  time  five  or  six  of  us  made  an  agreeable  journey 
on  skates,  to  see  the  painted  glass  in  the  church  at  Tergou. 
It  was  distant  twelve  miles.  We  left  Rotterdam  at  ten 
o'clock,  saw  the  church,  and  dined,  and  returned  to  Rotter 
dam  between  five  and  six  in  the  evening.  It  was  moonlight, 
and  a  gentle  breeze  on  our  back,  so  that  we  returned  in  an 
hour  and  a  quarter. 

Gregory,  though  a  far  abler  man  than  Monckly,  and  not 
less  a  man  of  learning  for  his  age  than  of  taste,  in  the  most 
important  qualities  was  not  superior  to  Monckly.  When  he 
was  afterwards  tried  by  the  ardent  spirits  of  Edinburgh  and 
the  prying  eyes  of  rivalship,  he  did  not  escape  without  the 
imputation  of  being  cold,  selfish,  and  cunning.  His  preten 
sions  to  be  more  religious  than  others  of  his  profession,  and 
his  constant  eulogies  on  the  female  sex  as  at  least  equal,  if  not 
superior,  to  the  male,  were  supposed  to  be  lures  of  reputation, 
or  professional  arts  to  get  into  business.  When  those  objec 
tions  were  made  to  him  at  Edinburgh,  I  was  able  to  take  off 
the  edge  from  them,  by  assuring  people  that  his  notions  and 
modes  of  talking  were  not  newly  adopted  for  a  purpose,  for 
that  when  at  Leyden,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  or  twenty-two, 
he  was  equally  incessant  and  warm  on  those  topics,  though  he 
had  not  a  female  to  flatter,  nor  ever  went  to  church  but  when 
I  dragged  him  to  please  old  Gowan.  Having  found  Aberdeen 
too  narrow  a  circle  for  him,  he  tried  London  for  a  twelvemonth 
without  success,  —  for  being  ungainly  in"  his  person  and  man 
ner,  and  no  lucky  accident  having  befallen  him,  he  could  not 
make  his  way  suddenly  in  a  situation  where  external  graces 
and  address  go  much  further  than  profound  learning  or  pro 
fessional  skill.  Dr.  Gregory,  however,  was  not  without  ad 
dress,  for  he  was  much  a  master  of  conversation  on  all  sub- 


THE   BRITISH   STUDENTS.  147 

jects,  and  without  gross  flattery  obtained  even  more  than  a 
favorable  hearing  to  himself;  for  never  contradicting  you  at 
first,  but  rather  assenting  or  yielding,  as  it  were,  to  your 
knowledge  and  taste,  he  very  often  brought  you  round  to 
think  as  he  did,  and  to  consider  him  a  superior  man.  In  all 
my  dealings  with  him  —  for  he  was  my  family  physician  —  I 
found  him  friendly,  affectionate,  and  generous. 

An  unlucky  accident  happened  about  the  end  of  January, 
which  disturbed  the  harmony  of  our  society,  and  introduced 
uneasiness  and  suspicion  among  us.  At  an  evening  meeting, 
where  I  happened  not  to  be,  Charles  Townshend,  who  had  a 
great  deal  of  wit  which  he  was  fond  to  show,  even, sometimes 
at  the  expense  of  his  friends,  though  in  reality  one  of  the 
best-natured  of  men,  took  it  in  his  head  to  make  a  butt  of 
James  Johnstone,  afterwards  Sir  James  of  Westerhall.  Not 
contented  with  the  smartness  of  his  raillery,  lest  it  should  be 
obscure,  he  frequently  accompanied  it  with  that  motion  of  the 
tongue  in  the  cheek  which  explains  and  aggravates  everything. 
He  continued  during  the  evening  to  make  game  of  James, 
who,  slow  of  apprehension  and  unsuspicious,  had  taken  all  in 
good  part.  Some  one  of  the  company,  however,  who  had  felt 
Charles's  smartness,  which  he  did  not  choose  to  resent,  had 
gone  in  the  morning  to  Johnstone  and  opened  his  eyes  on 
Townshend's  behavior  over-night. 

Johnstone,  though  not  apt  to  take  offence,  was  prompt 
enough  in  his  resentment  when  taken,  and  immediately  re 
solved  to  put  Charles's  courage  to  the  test.  I  was  sent  for 
next  forenoon  by  twelve  o'clock  to  Charles's  lodgings,  who 
looked  pale  and  undone,  more  than  I  had  ever  seen  him.  He 
was  liable  at  that  time  to  convulsion  fits,  which  seldom  failed 
to  attack  him  after  a  late  supper.  I  asked  him  what  was  the 
matter  with  him  ;  he  answered,  that  he  had  been  late  up,  and 
had  been  ill.  He  next  asked  me  if  I  had  ever  observed  him 


148  LEYDEN. 

use  James  Johnstone  with  ill-natured  raillery  or  sarcasm  in 
company,  or  ridicule  him  behind  his  back.  I  answered  him 
that  I  had  never  perceived  anything  between  them  but  that 
playsome  kind  of  raillery  so  frequent  among  good  friends  and 
companions,  and  that  when  Johnstone  was  absent  I  had  never 
heard  him  ridicule  him  but  for  trifles,  in  spite  of  which  I  con 
ceived  he  had  a  respect  for  him.  Upon  this  he  showed  me  a 
letter  from  Johnstone,  taxing  him  with  having  often  treated 
him  with  contempt  in  company,  and  particularly  for  his  be 
havior  the  night  before,  which  having  been  made  to  advert  to 
by  a  friend  who  was  sharper-sighted  than  him,  had  brought 
sundry  thjngs  to  his  recollection,  which,  though  he  did  not 
mind  at  the  time,  were  fully  explained  to  him  by  his  be 
havior  to  him  the  night  before.  The  letter  concluded  with  a 
challenge.  "  And  what  answer  are  you  to  make  to  this  ? " 
said  I.  "  Not  fight,  to  be  sure,"  said  he,  "  for  I  have  no 
quarrel  with  Johnstone,  who  is  the  best-natured  man  in  the 
world."  "  If  you  can  make  it  up,  and  keep  it  secret,  it  may 
do,  otherwise  you  '11  be  dishonored  by  the  transaction."  I 
added,  "  Find  out  the  malicious  scoundrel  if  you  can  who  has 
acted  like  a  vile  informer,  and  take  vengeance  on  him."  He 
seemed  quite  irresolute,  and  I  left  him  with  this  advice,  either 
to  make  it  up,  or  put  it  over  as  soon  as  possible.  He  made  it 
up,  to  be  sure,  but  it  was  in  a  manner  that  hurt  him,  for 
Johnstone  and  he  went  round  all  the  lodgings  in  Leyden,  and 
inquired  of  everybody  if  any  of  them  had  ever  heard  or  seen 
him  ridicule  Johnstone.  Everybody  said  no  to  this,  and  he 
and  Johnstone  became  the  greater  friends.  But  it  did  him 
more  harm  than  it  would  or  ought  to  have  done  at  his  raw 
age,  if  he  had  not  afterwards  betrayed  want  of  firmness  of 
character.  This  was  a  pity,  for  he  had  unbounded  capacity 
and  applicatio'h,  and  was  good-tempered  and  affectionate. 
This  accident  in  some  measure  broke  the  bond  of  our, society, 


DEPARTURE  FROM  HOLLAND.          149 

but  it  was  of  little  importance  to  us,  who  meant  to  leave  Ley- 
den  very  soon.  Gregory  and  I  had  agreed  to  go  to  London 
together,  and  when  Monckly  heard  of  this  resolution,  he  de 
termined  to  accompany  us.  His  monitor  had  advised  him  to 
take  his  degree  in  Ley  den,  but  the  honest  man  did  not  choose 
to  stand  the  examination  ;  and  he  knew  that  by  paying  a  little 
more  he  could  get  his  diploma  sent  after  him.  Dickson  re 
mained  to  take  his  degree,  as  he  regarded  the  additional  guineas 
much  more  than  he  feared  the  examination.  Gregory,  with  a 
degree  of  malice  due  to  the  fat  man  for  his  vanity  and  pre 
sumption,  pressed  him  very  much  to  abide  the  trial,  and  bla 
zoned  to  him  the  inglorious  retreat  he  was  about  to  make ; 
but  it  would  not  do,  as  Gregory  knew  perfectly  beforehand. 

About  the  end  of  February  or  the  beginning  of  March  we 
set  out  on  our  return  to  Britain ;  when,  passing  two  days  very 
agreeably  with  our  friends  at  Rotterdam,  we  fell  down  to  Hel- 
voet,  and  took  our  passage  on  board  the  packet,  which  was  to 
sail  for  Harwich  next  morning.  On  the  journey  and  voyage 
Monckly  assumed  his  proper  station,  which  was  that  of  treas 
urer  and  director ;  and,  to  say  the  truth,  he  did  it  well ;  for 
except  in  one  instance,  he  managed  our  affairs  with  a  decent 
economy,  no  less  than  with  the  generosity  that  became  his  as 
sumed  office.  The  exception  to  this  was  his  allowing  himself 
to  be  imposed  upon  by  the  landlord  of  the  inn  at  Helvoet,  in 
laying  in  sea-stores  for  our  voyage,  for  he  said  he  had  known 
packets  on  the  sea  for  a  week  by  calms,  &c.  The  director 
elect,  therefore,  laid  in  a  cold  ham  and  a  couple  of  fowls,  with 
a  sirloin  -of  beef,  nine  bottles  of  wine  and  three  of  brandy, 
none  of  all  which  we  were  able  to  taste  except  the  brandy. 

We  sailed  from  Helvoet  at  eight  in  the  morning,  and  having 
a  fine  brisk  gale,  quite  fair,  we  arrived  on  the  coast  of  Eng 
land  by  eight  in  the  evening ;  though,  having  made  the  land 
too  far  to  the  northward,  it  was  near  twelve  before  we  got 


150  ARRIVAL  IN  ENGLAND. 

down  to  Harwich.  "We  had  beds  in  the  cabin,  and  were  all 
so  heartily  sea-sick  that  we  were  hardly  able  to  lift  up  our 
heads  the  whole  day,  far  less  to  partake  of  any  of  our  sea- 
stores,  except  a  little  brandy  to  settle  our  stomachs. 

We  had  one  cabin  passenger,  who  was  afterwards  much 
celebrated.  When  we  were  on  the  quarter-deck  in  the  morn 
ing,  we  observed  three  foreigners,  of  different  ages,  who  had 
under  their  care  a  young  person  of  about  sixteen,  very  hand 
some  indeed,  whom  we  took  for  a  Hanoverian  baron  coming 
to  Britain  to  pay  his  court  at  St.  James's.  The  gale  freshened 
so  soon  that  we  had  not  an  opportunity  of  conversing  with 
those  foreigners,  when  we  were  obliged  to  take  to  our  beds  in 
the  cabin.  The  young  person  was  the  only  one  of  the  stran 
gers  who  had  a  berth  there,  because^  as  we  supposed,  it  oc 
casioned  an  additional  freight.  My  bed  was  directly  opposite 
to  that  of  the  stranger,  but  we  were  so  sick  that  there  was  no 
conversation  among  us  till  the  young  foreigner  became  very 
frightened  in  spite  of  the  sickness,  and  called  out  to  me  in 
French,  if  we  were  not  in  danger.  The  voice  betrayed  her 
sex  at  once,  no  less  than  her  fears.  I  consoled  her  as  well  as 
I  could,  and  soon  brought  her  above  the  fear  of  danger.  This 
beautiful  person  was  Violetti  the  dancer,  who  was  engaged  to 
the  opera  in  the  Haymarket.  This  we  were  made  certain  of 
by  the  man,  who  called  himself  her  father,  waiting  on  us  next 
day  at  Harwich,  requesting  our  countenance  to  his  daughter 
on  her  first  appearance,  and  on  her  benefit.  I  accordingly  was 
at  the  opera  the  first  night  she  appeared,  where  she  was  the 
first  dancer,  and  maintained  her  ground  till  Garrick  married 
her. 

We  had  so  much  trouble  about  our  baggage  that  we  did  not 
get  from  Harwich  till  one  o'clock,  and  I  was  obliged  to  leave 
Leeson's  picture,  which  I  had  undertaken  to  carry  to  London 
for  John  Wilkes.  We  passed  the  night  at  Colchester,  where 


FRIENDS  IN  LONDON.  151 

the  foreigners  were  likely  to  be  roughly  treated,  as  the  ser 
vants  at  the  inn  took  offence  at  the  young  woman  in  men's 
clothes,  as  one  room  was  only  bespoke  for  all  the  four.  We 
interposed,  however,  when  Monckly's  authority,  backed  by  us, 
prevented  their  being  insulted.  They  travelled  in  a  separate 
coach  from  us,  but  we  made  the  young  lady  dine  with  us  next 
day,  which  secured  her  good  treatment.  We  were  so  late  in 
getting  to  London  that  we  remained  all  night  together  in  an 
inn  in  Friday  Street,  and  separated  next  day,  with  a  promise 
of  seeing  one  another  often ;  yet  so  great  is  the  city  of  Lon 
don,  and  so  busy  is  everybody  kept  there,  that,  intimate  as  we 
had  been,  it  was  three  weeks  or  a  month  before  we  met 
again.  ^  We  had  not  yet  found  out  the  British  Coffee-house, 
where  so  many  of  our  countrymen  assembled  daily. 

I  got  a  coach,  and  went  to  New  Bond  Street  to  my  cousin, 
Captain  Lyon's,  who  had  been  married  for  a  few  years  to  Lady 
Catherine  Bridges,  a  daughter  of  the  Marquess  of  Carnarvon, 
and  grandchild  of  the  Duke  of  Chandos.  Lyon's  mother  was 
an  acquaintance  of  the  Marchioness,  the  young  lady's  mother  of 
the  Dysart  family.  The  Marchioness  had  fallen  in  love  with 
Lyon,  who  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men  in  London,  but  he 
escaped  by  marrying  the  daughter,  who,  though  not  handsome, 
was  young  and  alluring,  and  had  the  prospect  of  a  great  for 
tune,  as  she  had  only  one  sister,  who  was  deformed.  Here  I 
renewed  my  acquaintance  with  my  aunt  Lyon,  who  was  still  a 
fine  woman.  Her  elder  sister,  Mrs.  Paterson,  the  widow  of 
a  Captain  Paterson  of  the  Bannockburn  family,  a  very  plain- 
looking,  sensible  woman,  kept  house  with  her,  while  the  son 
and  his  family  lived  in  the  next  house,  which  belonged  to  Mrs. 
Lyon.  Lady  Catherine  had  by  this  time  two  girls,  three  and 
four  years  of  age,  as  beautiful  children  as  ever  were  seen. 
They  had  bespoke  for  me  a  small  lodging  in  Little  Maddon 
Street,  within  sight  of  the  back  of  their  house.  Lyon  was  a 


152  SOCIETY  IN  LONDON. 

cheerful  fine  fellow  as  ever  was  born,  who  had  just  returned 
with  his  troop  of  the  Horse- Guards  from  Flanders,  where  he 
and  they  had  been  for  two  campaigns  under  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland.  With  them  and  their  friends  I  passed  part 
of  my  time  ;  but  having  found  some  of  my  old  friends  loung 
ing  about  the  British  and  Forrest's  Coffee-houses,  in  Cockspur 
Street,  Charing  Cross,  —  viz.  John  Blair,  afterwards  a  preben 
dary  of  Westminster,  Robert  Smith,  afterwards  distinguished 
by  the  appellation  of  the  Duke  of  Roxburgh's  Smith,  who 
introduced  me  to  Dr.  Smollett,  with  whom  he  was  intimate, 
and  Charles  Congalton  arriving  in  a  few  weeks  from  Leyden, 
who  was  a  stranger  as  well  as  myself  in  London,  —  I  was  at 
no  loss  how  to  pass  my  time  agreeably,  when  Lyon  and  his 
family  were  engaged  in  their  own  circle.* 

By  Lyon,  however,  I  was  introduced  to  some  families  of 
condition,  and  was  carried  to  court  of  an  evening,  for  George 
II.  at  that  time  had  evening  drawing-rooms,  where  his  Majesty 
and  Princess  Amelia,  who  had  been  a  lovely  wToman,  played 
at  cards,  and  the  courtiers  sauntered  for  an  hour  or  two.  This 
was  a  very  insipid  amusement.  I  went  with  Lyon  also  and 
his  lady  to  a  ridotta  at  the  Haymarket,  a  ball  where  there 
were  not  fewer  than  fifteen  hundred  people,  and  which  Robert 
Keith,  the  ambassador,  told  me,  in  the  entry,  was  a  strong 
proof  of  the  greatness  and  opulence  of  London,  for  he  had 
stood  in  the  entry,  he  said,  and  had  seen  all  the  ladies  come 
in,  and  was  certain  that  not  one  half  of  them  were  of  the 
Court  end  of  the  town,  for  he  knew  every  one  of  them.  Lady 
Catherine  Lyon,  whom  I  squired  that  night,  and  with  whom 

*  Of  John  Blair,  the  chronologist,  some  notices  will  be  found  in  the  His 
tory  of  HincTcley  (of  which  he  was  vicar)  by  Nichols,  in  the  sixth  volume  of 
the  Topoyraphia  Britannica.  Robert  Smith  is  probably  the  same  who  suc 
ceeded  Bentley  as  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  lie  was  very  emi 
nent  in  optics  and  mathematics,  but  scarcely  anything  is  now  known  of  him 
beyond  a  scanty  notice  in  Mutton's  Mathematical  Dictionary.  —  ED. 


THE  LYONS.  —  HEATHFIELD.  153 

I  danced,  introduced  me  to  many  of  her  acquaintance,  and 
among  the  rest  to  Lady  Dalkeith  and  her  sisters,  the  daugh 
ters  of  John,  Duke  of  Argyle,  who,  she  said,  were  her 
cousins.  The  Countess  was  then  with  child  of  Henry,  Duke 
of  Buccleuch,  who  was  born  on  the  14th  of  September  there 
after,  who  was  my  much-respected  patron  and  highly -honored 
friend. 

Captain  Lyon  introduced  me  to  his  friends,  the  officers  of 
the  Horse- Guards,  with  whom  I  lived  a  good  deal.  The 
troop  he  belonged  to,  which,  I  think,  was  Lord  Tyrawley's, 
was  one  of  the  two  which  had  been  abroad  in  Flanders,  be 
tween  whom  and  those  at  home  there  was  a  strong  emulation 
who  should  entertain  most  expensively  when  on  guard.  Their 
parties  were  generally  in  the  evening,  when  they  had  the  most 
expensive  suppers  that  could  be  got  from  a  tavern,  —  amongst 
other  things  champagne  and  ice-creams,  both  which  were  new 
to  me,  and  the  last  then  rare  in  London.  I  had  many  very 
agreeable  parties  with  those  officers,  who  were  all  men  of  the 
world,  and  some  of  them  of  erudition  and  understanding. 
One  I  must  particularly  mention  was  Captain  Elliot,  after 
wards  Lord  Heathfield,  the  celebrated  defender  of  Gibralter. 
A  parcel  of  us  happened  to  meet  in  the  Park  in  a  fine  evening 
in  April,  who,  on  asking  each  other  how  they  were  engaged, 
seven  or  eight  of  us  agreed  to  sup  at  the  Cardigan  at  Charing 
Cross,  among  whom  Elliot  was  one.  Lyon  and  I  undertook 
to  go  directly  to  the  house  and  bespeak  a  room,  and  were  soon 
joined  by  our  company  and  two  or  three  more  of  their  friends, 
whom  they  had  met  in  their  walk.  We  passed  the  evening 
very  pleasantly,  and  when  the  bill  was  called  for,  a  Mr. 
Philips,  who  was  in  the  chair,  and  who,  by  the  death  of  a 
relation  that  morning,  had  succeeded  to  an  estate  of  £1,000 
a  year,  wished  to  pay  the  whole  reckoning,  which  he  said 
was  a  trifle.  This  was  resisted.  He  then  said  he  would 
7* 


154  SOCIETY  IN  LONDON. 

play  odds  or  evens  with  all  the  company  in  their  turns,  whether 
he  or  they  should  pay.  This  was  agreed  to,  and  he  contrived 
to  lose  to  everybody  except  Captain  Elliot,  who  said  he  never 
played  for  his  reckoning.  I  observed  on  this  afterwards  to 
Lyon  that  this  appeared  particular,  and  that  Elliot,  though  by 
his  conversation  a  very  sensible  man,  yet  did  not  yield  to  the 
humor  of  the  company,  which  was  to  gratify  Philips.  He 
answered  me,  that  though  Captain  Elliot  was  somewhat  sin 
gular  and  austere  in  his  manners,  yet  he  was  a  very  worthy 
and  able  officer,  for  whom  he  had  great  esteem.  This  trait 
of  singularity  occurred  to  me  when  he  became  so  distinguished 
an  officer,  whom  I  should  rather  have  noted  as  sour  and  un- 
tractable. 

John  Blair  had  passed  his  trials  as  a  preacher  in  Scotland, 
but  having  a  few  hundred  pounds  of  patrimony,  chose  to  pay 
a  visit  to  London,  where  he  loitered  till  he  spent  it  all.  After 
some  time  he  thought  of  completing  and  publishing  his  Chron 
ological  Tables,  the  plan  of  which  had  been  given  him  by 
Dr.  Hugh  Blair,  the  celebrated  preacher.  He  became  ac 
quainted  with  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  with  whom  he  was  soon 
a  favorite,  and  having  been  ordained  by  him,  was  presented  to 
the  living  of  Burton  Cogles,  in  his  diocese.  He  was  after 
wards  teacher  of  mathematics  to  the  Duke  of  York,  the 
King's  brother,  and  was  by  his  interest  preferred  to  be  a 
prebendary  of  Westminster.  He  was  a  lively,  agreeable  fel 
low,  and  one  of  the  most  friendly  men  in  the  world.  Smith 
had  been  abroad  with  the  young  Laird  of  M'Leod  of  that 
period,  and  was  called  home  with  his  pupil  when  the  Rebellion 
began.  He  had  been  ill  rewarded,  and  was  on  his  shifts  in 
London.  He  was  a  man  of  superior  understanding,  and  of  a 
most  gentlemanly  address.  With  Smollett  he  was  very  in 
timate.  We  four,  with  one  or  two  more,  frequently  resorted 
to  a  small  tavern  in  the  corner  of  Cock?pur  Street  at  the 


BLAIR.  —  SMOLLETT.  155 

Golden  Ball,  where  we  had  a  frugal  supper  and  a  little  punch, 
as  the  finances  of  none  of  the  company  were  in  very  good 
order.  But  we  had  rich  enough  conversation  on  literary 
subjects,  which  was  enlivened  by  Smollett's  agreeable  stories, 
which  he  told  with  peculiar  grace. 

Soon  after  our  acquaintance,  Smollett  showed  me  his  tragedy 
of  "  James  I.  of  Scotland,"  which  he  never  could  bring  on  the 
stage.  For  this  the  managers  could  not  be  blamed,  though  it 
soured  him  against  them,  and  he  appealed  to  the  public  by 
printing  it ;  but  the  public  seemed  to  take  part  with  the 
managers. 

I  was  in  the  coffee-house  with  Smollett  when  the  news  of  the 
battle  of  Culloden  arrived,  and  when  London  all  over  was  in  a 
perfect  uproar  of  joy.  It  was  then  that  Jack  Stuart,  the  son  of 
the  Provost,  behaved  in  the  manner  I  before  mentioned.  About 
nine  o'clock  I  wished  to  go  home  to  Lyon's,  in  New  Bond 
Street,  as  I  had  promised  to  sup  with  him  that  night,  it  being 
the  anniversary  of  his  marriage  night,  or  the  birthday  of  one 
of  his  children.  I  asked  Smollett  if  he  was  ready  to  go,  as 
he  lived  at  Mayfair ;  he  said  he  was,  and  would  conduct  me. 
The  mob  were  so  riotous,  and  the  squibs  so  numerous  and  in 
cessant  that  we  were  glad  to  go  into  a  narrow  entry  to  put  our 
wigs  in  our  pockets,  and  to  take  our  swords  from  our  belts  and 
walk  with  them  in  our  hands,  as  everybody  then  wore  swords ; 
and,  after  cautioning  me  against  speaking  a  word,  lest  the  mob 
should  discover  my  country  and  become  insolent,  "  for  John 
Bull,"  says  he,  "  is  as  haughty  and  valiant  to-night  as  he  was 
abject  and  cowardly  on  the  Black  Wednesday  when  the  High 
landers  were  at  Derby."  After  we  got  to  the  head  of  the 
Ilaymarket  through  incessant  fire,  the  Doctor  led  me  by  nar 
row  lanes,  where  we  met  nobody  but  a  few  boys  at  a  pitiful 
bonfire,  who  very  civilly  asked  us  for  sixpence,  which  I  gave 
them.  I  saw  not  Smollett  again  for  some  time  after,  when  he 


156  SOCIETY  IN  LONDON. 

showed  Smith  and  me  the  manuscript  of  his  Tears  of  Scot 
land,  which  was  published  not  long  after,  and  had  such  a  run 
of  approbation.  Smollett,  though  a  Tory,  was  not  a  Jacobite, 
but  he  had  the  feelings  of  a  Scotch  gentleman  on  the  reported 
cruelties  that  were  said  to  be  exercised  after  the  battle  of 
Culloden. 

My  cousin  Lyon  was  an  Englishman  born,  though  of  Scot 
tish  parents,  and  an  officer  in  the  Guards,  and  perfectly  loyal, 
and  yet  even  he  did  not  seem  to  rejoice  so  cordially  at  the 
victory  as  I  expected.  "  What 's  the  matter  ?  "  says  I ;  "  has 
your  Strathmore  blood  got  up,  that  you  are  not  pleased  with 
the  quelling  of  the  Rebellion  ?  "  "  God  knows,"  said  he,  "  I 
heartily  rejoice  that  it  is  quelled ;  but  I  'm  sorry  that  it  has 
been  accomplished  by  the  Duke  of  C ,  for  if  he  was  be 
fore  the  most  insolent  of  all  commanders,  what  will  he  be 
now  ?  "  I  afterwards  found  that  this  sentiment  prevailed  more 
than  I  had  imagined ;  and  yet,  though  no  general,  he  had  cer 
tainly  more  parts  and  talents  than  any  of  the  family. 

I  was  witness  to  a  scene  in  the  British  Coffee-house,  which 
was  afterwards  explained  to  me.  Captain  David  Cheap,  who 
was  on  Anson's  voyage,  and  had  been  wrecked  on  the  coast  of 
Chili,  and  was  detained  there  for  some  time  by  the  Spaniards, 
had  arrived  in  London,  and  frequented  this  coffee-house.  Be 
ing  a  man  of  sense  and  knowledge,  he  was  employed  by  Lord 
Anson  to  look  out  for  a  proper  person  to  write  his  voyage,  the 
chaplain,  whose  journal  furnished  the  chief  materials,  being 
unequal  to  the  task.  Captain  Cheap  had  a  predilection  for 
his  countrymen,  and  having  heard  of  Guthrie,  the  writer  of 
the  Westminster  Journal,  &c.,  he  had  come  down  to  the  coffee 
house  that  evening  to  inquire  about  him,  and,  if  he  was  pleased 
with  what  he  heard,  would  have  him  introduced.  Not  long 
after  Cheap  had  sat'  down  and  called  for  coffee,  Guthrie  ar 
rived,  dressed  in  laced  clothes,  and  talking  loud  to  everybody, 


LONDON  IN  1746.  157 

and  soon  fell  a  wrangling  with  a  gentleman  about  tragedy  and 
comedy  and  the  unities,  &c.,  and  laid  down  the  law  of  the 
drama  in  a  peremptory  manner,  supporting  his  arguments 
with  cursing  and  swearing.  I  saw  he  £  Cheap]  was  astonished, 
when,  rising  and  going  to  the  bar,  he  asked  who  this  was,  and 
finding  it  was  Guthrie,  whom  he  had  come  down  to  inquire 
about,  he  paid  his  coffee  and  slunk  off  in  silence.  I  knew 
him  well  afterwards,  and  asked  him  one  day  if  he  remembered 
the  incident.  He  told  me  that  it  was  true  that  he  came  there 
with  the  design  of  talking  with  Guthrie  on  the  subject  of  the 
voyage,  but  was  so  much  disgusted'  with  his  vaporing  manner 
that  he  thought  no  more  of  him.* 

I  met  Captain  Cheap  in  Scotland  two  years  after  this,  when 
he  came  to  visit  his  relations.  I  met  him  often  at  his  half- 
brother's,  George  Cneap,  Collector  of  Customs,  at  Preston- 
pans,  and  in  summer  at  goat-whey  quarters,  where  I  lived 

*  Of  William  Guthrie,  whose  name  is  on  the  title-pages  of  many  volumi 
nous  works,  one  of  which,  the  Geographical  Grammar,  had  great  celebrity 
and  a  vast  circulation,  various  notices  will  be  found  in  D'Israeli's  Calamities 
of  Authors  and  Boswell's  Johnson.  The  account  of  Anson's  voyage,  so  well 
esteemed  in  its  own  day,  and  so  well  worth  reading  in  the  present,  both  from 
the  interesting  character  of  the  events  and  the  admirable  way  in  which  they 
are  told,  professes  to  have  been  compiled  from  Anson's  own  papers  by  Rich 
ard  Walter,  surgeon  of  the  Centurion,  one  of  the  vessels  in  the  expedition. 
It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  work  was  edited,  if  not  almost  re-written, 
by  Benjamin  Eobins,  the  mathematician.  William  Davis,  in  his  Olio,  or 
Bibliographical  and  Literary  Anecdotes  and  Memoranda,  says :  "  Walters' 
manuscript,  which  was  at  first  intended  to  have  been  printed,  being  little 
more  than  a  transcript  from  a  ship's  journals,  Mr.  Robins  was  recommended 
as  a  proper  person  to  revise  it;  and  it  was  then  determined  that  the  whole 
should  be  written  by  him,  the  transcripts  of  the  journals  serving  as  mate 
rials  only;  and  that,  with  the  Introduction  and  many  dissertations  in  the 
body  of  the  book,  of  which  not  the  least  hint  had  been  given  by  Walter,  he 
extended  the  account,  in  his  own  peculiar  style  and  manner,  to  nearly  twice 
its  original  size."  Davis  prints  a  letter  from  Lord  Anson,  tending  to  con 
firm  his  statement.  —  ED. 


158  LONDON  IN  1746. 

with  him  for  three  weeks,  and  became  very  confidential  with 
him.  He  had  a  sound  and  sagacious  understanding  and  an 
intrepid  mind,  and  had  great  injustice  done  to  him  in  Byron's 
Narrative,  which  Major  Hamilton,  who  was  one  of  the  un 
fortunate  people  in  the  Wager,  told  me  was  in  many  things 
false  or  exaggerated.*  One  instance  I  remember,  which  is 
this,  that  Cheap  was  so  selfish  that  he  had  concealed  four 
pounds  of  seal  in  the  lining  of  his  coat,  to  abstract  from  the 
company  for  his  own  use.  '  He,  no  doubt,  had  the  piece  of 
seal,  and  Captain  Hamilton  saw  him  secrete  it ;  but  when 
they  had  got  clear  of  a  cazique,  who  plundered  them  of  all  he 
could,  the  captain,  producing  his  seal,  said  to  his  companions, 
"  That  devil  wanted  to  reduce  me  to  his  own  terms  by  famine, 
but  I  outplotted  him ;  for  with  this  piece  of  seal  we  could 
have  held  out  twenty-four  hours  longer^"  Another  trait  of 
his  character  Captain  Hamilton  told  me,  which  was,  —  that 
when  they  arrived  in  Chili,  to  the  number  of  eleven,  who  had 
adhered  to  Cheap,  and  who  were  truly,  for  hunger  and  naked 
ness,  worse  than  the  lowest  beggars,  and  were  delighted  with 
the  arrival  of  a  Spanish  officer  from  the  governor,  who  pre 
sented  Cheap  with  a  petition,  wlu'ch  he  said  he  behooved  to 
sign,  otherwise  they  could  not  be  taken  under  the  protection 
of  the  Spanish  governor ;  Cheap,  having  glanced  this  paper 
with  his  eye,  and  throwing  it  indignantly  on  the  ground,  said 
sternly  to  the  officer  that  he  would  not  sign  such  a  paper,  for 

*  The  book  here  referred  to,  written  by  the  poet's  grandfather,  and  cited 
in  Don  Juan  as  "  My  grandad's  Narrative,"  was  very  popular.  Its  title  is 
"  The  Narrative  of  the  Honorable  John  Byron  (commander  in  a  late  expedi 
tion  round  the  world);  containing  an  account  of  the  great  distresses  suffered 
by  himself  and  his  companions  on  the  coast  of  Patagonia,  from  the  year 
1740  till  their  arrival  in  England  in  1746 ;  with  a  description  of  St.  Jago  de 
Chili,  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants.  Also  a  relation  of 
the  loss  of  the  Wager  man-of-war,  one  of  Lord  Alison's  squadron:"  1768. 

—  ED. 


LONDON  IX  1746.  159 

the  officers  of  the  King  of  England  could  die  of  hunger,  but 
they  disdained  to  beg.  Hamilton  and  Byron  and  all  the 
people  fell  into  despair,  for  they  believed  that  the  captain  was 
gone  mad,  and  that  they  were  all  undone.  But  it  had  a  quite 
contrary  effect,  for  the  officer  now  treated  him.  with  unbounded 
respect,  and,  going  hastily  to  the  governor,  returned  imme 
diately  with  a  blank  sheet  of  paper,  and  desired  Captain 
Cheap  to  dictate  or  write  his  request  in  his  own  way. 

Hamilton  added  that  Byron  and  he  being  then  very  young, 
about  sixteen  or  seventeen,  they  frequently  thought  they  were 
ruined  by  the  captain's  behavior,  which  was  often  mysterious, 
and  always  arrogant  and  high ;  but  that  yet  in  the  sequel  they 
found  that  he  had  always  acted  under  the  guidance  of  a  saga 
cious  foresight.  This  was  marking  him  as  a  character  truly 
fit  for  command,  which  was  the  conclusion  I  drew  from  my 
intercourse  with  him  in  Scotland.  On  my  inquiring  at  Ham 
ilton  what  had  made  Byron  so  severe,  he  said  he  believed  it 
was  that  the  captain  one  day  had  called  him  "  puppy  "  when 
he  was  petulant,  and  feeling  himself  in  the  wrong,  he  en 
deavored  to  make  up  with  Byron  by  greater  civility,  which 
the  other  rejecting,  Cheap  kept  him  at  a  greater  distance. 
He  entirely  cleared  Cheap  from  any  blame  for  shooting 
Cozens,  into  which  he  was  led  by  unavoidable  circumstances, 
and  which  completely  re-established  his  authority. 

As  I  had  seen  the  Chevalier  Prince  Charles  frequently  in 
Scotland,  I  was  appealed  to  if  a  print  that  was  selling  in  all 
the  shops  was  not  like  him.  My  answer  was,  that  it  had  not 
the  least  resemblance.  Having  been  taken  one  night,  how 
ever,  to  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society  by  Microscope  Baker, 
there  was  introduced  a  Hanoverian  baron,  whose  likeness  was 
so  strong  to  the  print  which  passed  for  the  young  Pretender, 
that  I  had  no  doubt  that,  he  being  a  stranger,  the  printsellers 
had  got  him  sketched  out,  that  they  might  make  something  of 


160  LONDON  IN  1746. 

it  before  his  vera  effigies  could  be  had.  Experiments  in 
electricity  were  then  but  new  in  England,  and  I  saw  them 
well  exhibited  at  Baker's,  whose  wife,  by  the  by,  was  a 
daughter  of  the  celebrated  Daniel  Defoe. 

I  dined  frequently  with  a  club  of  officers,  mostly  Scotch,  at 
a  coffee-house  at  Church  Court  in  the  Strand,  where  Charles 
Congalton  lodged,  and  who  introduced  me  to  the  club,  many 
of  whom  were  old  acquaintances,  such  as  Captain  Henry 
Fletcher,  Boyd  Porterfield,  and  sundry  more  who  had  been 
spared  at  the  fatal  battle  of  Fontenoy.  We  had  an  excellent 
dinner  at  Wd.,  —  I  thought  as  good  as  those  in  Holland  at  a 
guilder.  The  company,  however,  were  so  much  pleased  that 
they  voluntarily  raised  it  to  Is.  Qd.,  and  they  were  right ;  for 
as  they  generally  went  to  the  play  at  six  o'clock,  the  advance 
of  the  ordinary  left  them  at  liberty  to  forsake  the  bottle  early. 

The  theatres  were  not  very  attractive  this  season,  as  Garrick 
had  gone  over  to  Dublin ;  there  still  remained,  however,  what 
was  enough  for  a  stranger,  —  Mrs.  Pritchard,  and  Mrs.  Clive, 
and  Macklin,  who  were  all  excellent  in  their  way.  But  I  had 
seen  Hughes  and  Mrs.  Hamilton^  in  Edinburgh,  and  whether 
or  not  it  might  be  owing  to  the  force  of  first  impressions,  I 
then  thought  that  they  were  not  surpassed  by  those  I  saw  in 
London. 

Of  the  literary  people  I  met  with  at  this  time  in  London,  I 
must  not  forget  Thomson  the  poet  and  Dr.  Armstrong.  Dick- 
son  had  come  to  London  from  Leyden  with  his  degree  of 
M.  D.,  and  had  been  introduced  to  Armstrong,  who  was  his 
countryman.  A  party  was  formed  at  the  Ducie  Tavern  at 
Temple  Bar,  where  the  company  were  Armstrong,  Dickson, 
and  Andrew  Millar,  with  Murdoch  his  friend.*  Thomson 

*  As  to  Dickson,  see  further  on,  p.  168.  The  Reverend  Patrick  Murdoch 
was  the  author  of  several  scientific  works,  and  of  memoirs  of  M'Laurin  the 
mathematician  and  Thomson  the  poet,  to  whom  he  is  said  to  have  sat  for 


LONDON  IN  1746.  161 

came  at  last,  and  disappointed  me  both  by  his  appearance  and 
conversation.  Armstrong  bore  him  down,  having  got  into  his 
sarcastical  vein  by  the  wine  he  had  drunk  before  Thomson 
joined  us. 

At  that  particular  time  strangers  were  excluded  from  the 
House  of  Commons,  and  I  had  not  then  a  strong  curiosity  for 
that  kind  of  entertainment.  I  saw  all  the  sights  as  usual  for 
strangers  in  London,  and  having  procured  a  small  pamphlet 
which  described  the  public  buildings  with  taste  and  discern 
ment,  I  visited  them  with  that  in  my  hand.  On  Sundays  I 
went  with  Lyon  and  his  family  to  St.  George's  Church  in  Han 
over  Square.  Sometimes  I  went  to  St.  James's  Church  to  hear 
Dr.  Seeker,  who  was  the  rector  of  that  parish,  and  a  fine 
preacher.  I  was  twice  at  the  opera,  which  seemed  so  very 
far  from  real  life  and  so  unnatural  that  I  was  pleased  with 
nothing  but  the  dancing,  which  was  exquisite,  especially  that 
of  Yioletti. 

the  portrait  of  the  "  little,  fat,  round,  oily  man  of  God  "  in  the  Castle  of  In 
dolence,  who  "  had  a  roguish  twinkle  in  his  eye,  and  shone  all  glittering  with 
ungodly  dew."  —  ED. 


CHAPTER    Y. 

1746-1748:    AGE,  24-26. 

RETURN  TO  SCOTLAND. — ENGLISH  SCENERY.  —  WINDSOR. —  OXFORD. — 
TRAVELLING  ADVENTURES.  —  PRESENTED  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF  COCK- 
BURNSPATH.  —  SUBSEQUENTLY  SETTLED  AT  INVERESK.  —  HlS  SETTLE 
MENT  THERE  PROPHESIED  AND  FOREORDAINED.  —  ANECDOTES.  —  AN 
THONY  COLLINS.  —  SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  INVERESK  AND  MUSSELBURGH.  — 
ENGLISH  NOTION  THAT  THE  SCOTS  HAVE  NO  HUMOR.  —  JOHN  HOME. 
—  SKETCH  OF  THE  ASSISTANT  AT  INVERESK. 

VAUXHALL  furnished  early  in  May  a  fine  entertainment, 
but  I  was  now  urged  by  my  father  to  return  home ;  and  ac 
cordingly  Charles  Congalton  and  I  left  London  about  the  mid 
dle  of  May  on  horseback,  and,  having  Windsor  and  Oxford  to 
see,  we  took  the  west  road,  and  were  delighted  with  the  beauty 
of  the  country.  At  Windsor,  which  charmed  us,  we  met  with 
some  old  acquaintances,  —  Dr.  Francis  Home  and  Dr.  Adam 
Austin,  who  were  then  surgeons  of  dragoons,  and  who,  when 
afterwards  settled  at  Edinburgh  as  physicians,  became  eminent 
in  their  line.  At  Oxford  we  knew  nobody  but  Dr.  John 
Smith,  M.  D.,  who  was  a  Glasgow  exhibitioner,  and  then 
taught  mathematics  with  success  in  Oxford.  He  was  a  good 
kind  of  man,  and  became  an  eminent  practitioner.  He  went 
about  with  us,  and  showed  us  all  the  colleges,  with  which  we 
were  really  astonished.  We  took  the  road  by  Warwick,  and 
were  much  pleased  with  that  town  and  Lord  Brooks's  castle. 
When  we  came  to  Lichfield,  we  met,  as  we  expected,  with 
John  Dickson  of  Kilbucho,  M.  P.,  who  accompanied  us  during 
the  rest  of  our  journey,  till  we  arrived  in  Scotland. 


JOURNEY  TO  SCOTLAND.  163 

As  three  make  a  better  travelling  party  than  two,  society 
was  improved  by  this  junction  ;  for  though  Kilbucho  was  a 
singular  man,  he  knew  the  country,  which  he  had  often  travel 
led  ;  and  his  absurdities,  which  were  innocent,  amused  us. 
As  well  as  he  knew  the  country,  however,  when  we  came  to 
the  river  Esk,  and  to  the  usual  place  of  passing  it  —  for  there 
was  then  no  bridge  opposite  Gretna  Green  —  although  he  had 
insisted  on  our  dismissing  the  guide  we  had  brought  from 
some  distance  to  show  us  the  road,  yet  nothing  could  persuade 
him,  nor  even  his  servant,  to  venture  into  that  ford  which  he 
professed  he  knew  so  well.  The  tide  was  not  up,  but'  the 
river  was  a  little  swollen.  Congalton  and  I  became  impatient 
of  his  obstinate  cowardice,  and,  thinking  we  observed  the  foot 
step  of  a  horse  on  the  opposite  side  (what  we  thought  a  horse's 
footstep  turned  out  a  piece  of  sea-ware  which  the  tide  had 
left),  we  ventured  in  together  and  got  safe  through,  while  the 
gallant  knight  of  the  shire  for  the  county  of  Peebles,  with  his 
squire,  stood  on  the  bank  till  he  saw  us  safe  through.  This 
disgusted  us  not  a  little,  but  as  I  was  to  part  with  him  at 
Gretna,  and  go  round  by  Annan  and  Dumfries  to  visit  my 
friends,  I  had  only  half  an  hour  more  of  his  company,  which 
I  passed  in  deriding  his  cowardice.  Congalton,  anxious  to  get 
soon  to  Edinburgh,  accompanied  him  by  the  Moffat  road.  But 
strange  to  tell  of  a  Scotch  laird,  when  they  came  to  the  Crook 
Inn,  within  a  few  miles  of  Kilbucho,  which  lies  about  half  a 
mile  off  the  road  as  it  approaches  Broughton,  he  wished  Con 
galton  a  good-evening  without  having  the  hospitality  to  ask 
him  to  lodge  a  night  with  him,  or  even  to  breakfast  as  he 
passed  next  morning.  I  was  happy  to  find  afterwards  that  all 
the  Tweeddale  lairds  were  not  like  this  savage. 

I  passed  only  two  days  at  Dumfries  and  Tinwald,  at  which 
last  place  my  old  grandfather,  who  was  then  seventy-two,  was 
rejoiced  to  see  me,  and  not  a  little  proud  to  find  that  his  argu- 


164  FIRST  SERMON. 

mcnts  had  prevailed,  and  had  sufficient  force  to  prevent  my 
deviating  into  any  other  profession  than  the  clerical.  When  I 
returned  to  my  father's  house,  I  found  all  the  family  in  good 
health  except  my  brother  William,  who  was  then  in  his  six 
teenth  year,  and  had  all  the  appearance  of  going  into  a  de 
cline.  My  favorite  sister  Catherine  had  fallen  a  prey  to  the 
same  disease  in  February.  I  had  described  to  Gregory  when 
at  Leyden  the  state  of  her  health,  and  the  qualities  of  mind 
and  temper  that  had  attached  me  to  her  so  strongly.  He  said 
that  I  would  never  see  her  again,  for  those  exquisite  qualities 
were  generally  attached  to  such  a  frail  texture  of  body  as 
promised  but  short  duration.  William  was  as  remarkable  in 
one  sex  as  she  was  in  the  other ;  an  excellent  capacity  for 
languages  and  sciences,  a  kind  and  generous  temper,  a  mag 
nanimous  soul,  and  that  superior  leading  mind  that  made  him 
be  always  looked  up  to  by  his  companions  ;  with  a  beautiful 
countenance  and  a  seemingly  well-formed  body,  which  were 
not  proof  against  the  slow  but  certain  progress  of  that  insidi 
ous  disease.  He  lived  to  November,  1747,  and  then,  to  my 
infinite  regret,  gave  way  to  fate. 

I  had  only  one  sermon  to  deliver  before  the  Presbytery  of 
Haddington  to  become  a  preacher,  which  was  over  in  June. 
My  first  appearances  were  attended  to  with  much  expectation ; 
and  I  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  that  the  first  sermon  I  ever 
preached,  not  on  trials,  which  was  on  the  fast  day  before  the 
sacrament  at  Tranent,  had  met  with  universal  approbation. 
The  genteel  people  of  Prestonpans  parish  were  all  there ;  and 
one  young  lady,  to  whom  I  had  been  long  attached,  not  having 
been  able  to  conceal  her  admiration  of  my  oratory,  I  inwardly 
applauded  my  own  resolution  of  adhering  to  the  promise  I  had 
made  my  family  to  persevere  in  the  clerical  profession. 

I  revisited  Dumfries  and  Tinwald  again  to  preach  two  Sun 
days  for  my  grandfather,  who  gave  me  his  warmest  approba- 


PROFESSIONAL  PROSPECTS.  165 

tion.  One  Mr.  William  Stewart,  an  old  clergyman,  who  heard 
me  on  a  week-day  at  Dumfries,  gave  me  more  self-confidence, 
for  he  was  a  good  judge,  without  partiality.  I  returned  home, 
and  continued  composing  a  sermon  now  and  then,  which  I  first 
preached  for  my  father,  and  then  in  the  neighborhood. 

Our  society  was  still  pretty  good  ;  for  though  Hew  Horn 
was  no  more,  Mr.  Keith  had  left  us,  and  Cheap's  eldest  son, 
Alexander,  had  been  killed  at  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  —  Mr. 
William  Grant,  then  Lord  Advocate,  had  bought  Preston- 
grange,  and  resided  much  there  :  Lord  Drummore,  too,  was 
still  in  the  parish,  and  with  both  of  them  I  was  in  good  habits. 
Hew  Bannatine  had  been  ordained  minister  of  Ormiston,  who 
was  a  first-rate  man  for  sound  understanding  and  classical 
learning;  Robertson  was  at  Gladsmuir;  and  in  January,  1747, 
John  Home  was  settled  at  Athelstaneford ;  so  that  I  had 
neighbors  and  companions  of  the  first  rank  in  point  of  mind 
and  erudition. 

In  harvest  this  year  I  was  presented  by  John  Hay,  Esq.,  of 
Spot,  to  the  church  of  Cockburnspath.  As  my  father  and 
grandfather  were  always  against  resisting  Providence,  I  was 
obliged  to  accept  of  it.  It  was  an  obscure  distant  place,  with 
out  amenity,  comfort,  or  society,  where  if  I  had  been  settled, 
I  would  have  more  probably  fallen  into  idleness  and  dissipa 
tion  than  a  course  of  study  ;  for  preferment  is  so  difficult  to 
be  obtained  in  our  Church,  and  so  trifling  when  you  have  ob 
tained  it,  that  it  requires  great  energy  of  mind  not  to  fall 
asleep  when  you  are  fixed  in  a  country  charge.  From  this  I 
was  relieved,  by  great  good-luck.  There  was  a  Mr.  Andrew 
Gray,  afterwards  minister  of  Abernethy,  who  was  a  very  great 
friend  of  my  father's.  He  had  been  preaching  one  Sunday  in 
the  beginning  of  1747  for  Fred.  Carmichael,  minister  of  In- 
veresk,  and  stayed  with  him  all  night :  from  him  he  had 
drawn  the  secret  that  President  Forbes,  who  lived  in  his 


166  PROFESSIONAL  PROSPECTS. 

parish,  had  secured  for  him  a  church  that  was  recently  vacant 
in  Edinburgh.  Gray,  who  was  very  friendly  and  ardent,  and 
knew  my  father's  connections,  urged  him  without  loss  of  time 
to  apply  for  Inveresk.  By  this  time  I  had  preached  thrice  at 
Cockburnspath,  and  was  very  acceptable  to  the  people.  My 
father  was  unwilling  to  take  any  step  about  a  church  that 
would  not  even  be  vacant  for  a  year  to  come ;  but  Gray  was 
very  urgent,  and  backed  all  his  other  arguments  with  my 
father  with  the  idea  that  his  not  doing  his  utmost  would  be 
peevishly  rejecting  the  gift  of  Providence  when  within  his 
reach.  My  father  at  last  mounted  his  horse,  for  that  he  would 
have  done  had  the  distance  been  but  half  a  mile,  and  away  he 
went,  and  found  Lord  Drummore  on  the  point  of  going  to 
Edinburgh  for  the  week.  My  father  opened  his  budget,  which 
he  received  most  cordially,  and  told  him  there  was  great  prob 
ability  of  success,  for  that  he  was  well  enough  to  write  both 
to  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch  the  patron,  and  to  the  Duke  of 
Queensberry,  his  brother-in-law.  Besides  that,  Provost  Bell 
of  Dumfries  had  everything  to  say  with  the  Duke  of  Queens- 
berry.  In  a  few  posts  there  were  favorable  answers  from 
both  the  dukes,  and  a  promise  of  Inveresk. 

Lord  Drummore  was  a  true  friend  of  my  father,  and  had  in 
summer  1746  recommended  me  to  Lord  Stair  for  one  of  his 
churches  that  was  about  to  be  vacant  by  the  translation  of  the 
minister ;  and  I  preached  a  day  at  Kirkliston  before  his  lady 
with  that  view.  But  the  translation  did  not  take  place  at  that 
time.  Mr.  Hay  had  presented  me  to  Cockburnspath,  and  on 
that  I  would  have  been  settled.  The  Crown,  soon  after  I 
gave  it  up,  commenced  a  prosecution  against  Mr.  Hay,  and 
were  found  to  have  the  right.  Mr.  John  Hay  of  Spot  was  a 
very  good  man,  though  not  of  remarkable  talents :  he  died 
unmarried,  and  the  estate  went  to  his  brother  William.  My 
father  had  been  their  tutor  in  the  year  1714-15,  and  they  re 
tained  the  greatest  regard  for  him. 


PROFESSIONAL  PROSPECTS.  167 

In  the  preceding  winter  I  had  preached  three  times  at  Cock- 
burnspath,  and  was  so  acceptable  to  the  people  that  I  should 
have  an  unanimous  call,  which  was  on  the  point  of  being 
moderated  when  the  promise  of  Inveresk  was  obtained.  My 
father  wished  me  to  let  my  settlement  go  on,  but  I  resisted 
that,  as  I  thought  it  was  tampering  with  people  to  enter  into  so 
close  a  relation  with  them  that  was  so  soon  to  be  dissolved. 
The  puzzle  was  how  to  get  off  from  the  Presbytery  of  Dun- 
bar,  who  were  desirous  of  having  me  among  them ;  but  I  soon 
solved  the  difficulty  by  saying  to  Lord  Drummore  and  my 
father  that  nothing  could  be  so  easy  ;  for  as  I  had  accepted  of 
the  presentation  by  a  letter  of  acceptance,  I  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  withdraw  that  acceptance ;  this  I  accordingly  did  in 
January  or  February,  1747.  At  this  period  it  was  that  John 
Home  was  settled  in  Athelstaneford,  which  he  obtained  by  the 
interest  of  Alexander  Home,  Esq.,  of  Eccles,  afterwards  So 
licitor-General,  with  Sir  Francis  Kinloch,  who  was  his  uncle. 
He  was  still  alive  as  well  as  his  lady,  but  his  son  David,  who 
was  the  year  before  married  to  Harriet  Cockburn,  the  sister 
of  Sir  Alexander,  was  living  in  the  house  of  Gilmerton,  which, 
as  it  had  been  always  hospitable,  was  rendered  more  agreeable 
by  the  young  people  ;  for  the  husband  was  shrewd  and  sensi 
ble,  and  his  wife  beautiful,  lively,  and  agreeable,  and  was 
aspiring  at  some  knowledge  and  taste  in  belles  lettres.  This 
house,  for  that  reason,  became  a  great  resort  for  John  Home 
and  his  friends  of  the  clergy. 

This  summer,  1747,  passed  as  usual  in  visiting  Dumfries 
shire,  where  I  had  many  friends  and  relations ;  where,  in 
addition  to  the  rest,  I  became  well  acquainted  with  Mr. 
William  Cunningham,  at  that  time  minister  of  Durrisdeer, 
and  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  agreeable  of  our  order. 
When  the  Duchess  of  Queensberry  was  at  Drumlanrig,  where 
she  was  at  least  one  summer  after  he  was  minister,  she  soon 


1G8  FAMILY  POLITICS. 

discovered  his  superior  merit,  and  made  him  her  daily  com 
panion,  insomuch  that  the  servants  and  country  people  called 
him  her  Grace's  walking-staff.  My  cousin,  William  Wight, 
afterwards  professor  at  Glasgow,  was  a  great  favorite  of  this 
gentleman,  and  used  to  live  much  with  him  in  summer  during 
the  vacation  of  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  and  was  very  much 
improved  by  his  instructive  conversation. 

My  sister  Margaret,  who  had  been  brought  up  at  Dumfries 
by  her  aunt  Bell,  who  had  no  children,  was  now  past  fifteen, 
and  already  disclosed  all  that  beauty  of  person,  sweetness  of 
temper  and  disposition,  and  that  superiority  of  talents  which 
made  her  afterwards  be  so  much  admired,  and  gave  her  a  sway 
in  the  politics  of  the  town  which  was  surprising  in  so  young  a 
female.  Her  uncle,  George  Bell,  was  the  political  leader,  who 
was  governed  by  his  wife,  —  who  was  swayed  by  her  niece 
and  Frank  Paton,  Surveyor  of  the  Customs,  who  was  a  very 
able  man,  and  who,  with  my  sister,  were  the  secret  springs  of 
all  the  provost's  conduct. 

Dr.  Thomas  Dickson,  who  was  his  nephew,  by  his  solicita 
tion,  after  trying  London  for  nine  years,  was  prevailed  on  by 
his  uncle,  the  provost,  to  come  down  to  Dumfries  in  1755,  to 
try  his  fortune  as  a  practitioner  of  physic  ;  but  Dr.  Even  Gil- 
christ  was  too  well  established,  and  the  field  too  narrow,  for 
him  to  do  anything ;  so  at  the  end  of  a  year  he  returned  to 
London  again,  where  he  did  better.  During  that  year,  how 
ever,  he  did  what  was  not  very  agreeable  to  me.  He  gained 
my  sister's  affections,  and  a  promise  of  marriage,  though  in 
point  of  mind  there  was  a  very  great  inequality  ;  but  he  had 
been  the  only  young  man  in  the  town  whose  conversation  was 
enlightened  enough  for  her  superior  understanding,  and  she 
had  been  pestered  by  the  courtship  of  several  vulgar  and 
illiterate  blockheads,  to  be  clear  of  whom  she  engaged  her- 
self,  though  that  engagement  could  not  be  fulfilled  for  four 


FAMILY  POLITICS.  169 

years  or  more,  when  their  uncle  the  provost  was  dead,  and 
Dickson  in  better  circumstances. 

I  had,  for  three  weeks  this  summer,  been  at  the  goat-whey 
with  Mrs.  Cheap's  family,  at  a  place  called  Duchery,  at  the 
head  of  the  Forth,  where  I  met  Captain  David  Cheap,  above 
mentioned.  There  was  also  the  magnet  which  drew  me  after 
her,  with  unseen  though  irresistible  power,  —  the  star  that 
swayed  and  guided  all  my  actions  ;  and  there  I  hoped  that,  by 
acquiring  the  esteem  of  the  uncle,  I  had  the  better  chance  of 
obtaining  my  object.  In  the  first  I  succeeded,  but  in  the  last 
I  finally  failed,  though  I  did  not  desist  from  the  persistence 
for  several  years  after.  In  the  end  of  this  year  my  brother 
William  died,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  who,  in  spite  of  his 
long  bad  health,  was  likely  to  have  acquired  as  much  learning 
and  science  as,  with  his  good  sense,  would  have  made  him  a 
distinguished  member  of  society.  He  was  much  regretted  by 
all  his  companions,  who  loved  him  to  excess.  His  own  chief 
regret  was,  that  he  was  not  to  live  to  see  me  minister  of  In- 
veresk,  the  prospect  of  which  settlement  so  near  my  father 
had  given  him  much  satisfaction. 

When  Mr.  Frederick  Carmichael  was  translated  to  Edin 
burgh,  and  the  time  drew  near  when  I  was  to  be  presented  to 
Inveresk,  there  arose  much  murmuring  in  the  parish  against 
me,  as  too  young,  too  full  of  levity,  and  too  much  addicted  to 
the  company  of  my  superiors,  to  be  fit  for  so  important  a 
charge,  together  with  many  doubts  about  my  having  the  grace  \ 
of  God,  an  occult  quality  which  the  people  cannot  define,  but 
surely  is  in  full  opposition  to  the  defects  they  saw  in  me.*  A 
part  of  my  early  history  was  on  this  occasion  of  more  effect 

*  In  his  "Recollections,"  he  adds  to  this  catalogue  of  objections,  —  "I 
danced  frequently  in  a  manner  prohibited  by  the  laws  of  the  Church;  that 
1  wore  my  hat  agee;  and  had  been  seen  galloping  through  the  Links  one 
day  between  one  and  two  o'clock." 
8 


170  SETTLEMENT  AT  INVEBESK. 

than  can  be  conceived.  There  was  one  Ann  Hall,  a  semp 
stress,  who  had  lived  close  by  the  manse  of  Prestonpans  when 
I  was  a  boy.  She  was  by  this  time  married  at  Dalkeith, 
and  a  Seceder  of  the  strictest  sect,  and  a  great  leader  among 
her  own  people.  As  many  people  from  Inveresk  parish  fre 
quented  her  shop  at  Dalkeith  on  market-days,  the  conversation 
naturally  fell  on  the  subject  of  who  was  to  be  their  minister. 
By  this  time  I  had  been  presented,  but  they  said  it  would  be 
uphill  work,  for  an  opposition  was  rising  against  so  young  a 
man,  to  whom  they  had  many  faults,  and  that,  they  expected  to 
be  able  to  prevent  the  settlement.  "  Your  opposition  will  be 
altogether  in  vain,"  says  Mrs.  Ann,  "  for  I  know  that  it  is 
foreordained  that  he  shall  be  your  minister.  He  foretold  it 
himself  when  he  was  but  six  years  of  age  ;  and  you  know 
that  '  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings/  "  &c.  The 
case  was,  that  soon  after  I  had  read  the  Bible  to  the  old  wives 
in  the  churchyard,  as  I  mentioned  (p.  4),  I  was  diverting 
myself  on  Mrs.  Ann's  stairhead,  as  was  often  the  case.  She 
came  to  the  door,  and,  stroking  my  head  and  caressing  me, 
she  called  me  a  fine  boy,  and  hoped  to  live  to  see  me  my 
father's  successor.  "  No,  no,"  says  I  (I  suppose,  alarmed  at 
the  thoughts  of  my  father  dying  so  soon),  "  I  '11  never  be  min 
ister  of  that  church  ;  but  yonder  's  my  church,"  pointing  to  the 
steeple  of  Inveresk,  which  was  distinctly  seen  from  the  stair 
head.  She  held  up  her  hands  with  wonder,  and  stored  it  up 
in  her  heart ;  and  telling  this  simple  story  twenty  times  every 
market-day  to  Musselburgh  people  for  several  months,  it  made 
such  an  impression  that  the  opposition  died  away.  The  reign 
of  enthusiasm  was  so  recent,  that  such  anecdotes  still  made  an 
impression  on  the  populace. 

After  all  the  forms  were  gone  through,  and  about  a  year 
had  elapsed  after  the  translation  of  Mr.  Frederick  Carmichael 
to  Edinburgh,  I  was  ordained  minister  of  Inveresk,  on  the 


SETTLEMENT   AT   INVERESK.  171 

2d  of  August,  0.  S.,  1748,  by  Mr.  Robert  Paton,  minister  of 
Lasswade  (as  honest  and  gentlemanly  a  person  as  any  of  his 
cloth),  with  the  almost  universal  good-will  of  the  parish.  The 
only  person  of  consideration  who  was  not  present  at  the  ordi 
nation  was  Sir  James  Dalrymple  of  Newhailes,  who  had  taken 
umbrage  at  his  being  refused  the  presentation,  when  he  had 
applied  for  it  to  Gersham  Carmichael,  the  brother  of  Fred 
erick.  He  and  his  family,  however,  attended  the  church  on 
the  first  Sunday  after  the  ordination,  when  he  came  round  and 
welcomed  me  to  the  parish,  and  invited  me  to  dine  with  him 
next  day,  which  I  did,  and  continued  ever  after  in  perfect 
friendship  with  him  till  his  death  in  175.1. 

Sir  James  Dalrymple  was  the  son  of  Sir  David,  who  had 
been  King's  Advocate  from  1709  to  1720,  and  was  the  young 
est,  and,  as  was  said,  the  ablest,  of  all  the  sons  of  the  first 
Lord  Stair.  He  had  loaded  himself  with  debt  in  the  South 
Sea,  but  his  son  Sir  James  was  Auditor  of  the  Exchequer, 
which  enabled  him  to  keep  up  the  rank  of  his  family.  He 
was  hospitable  and  gentlemanly,  and  very  charitable.  He 
died  in  1751  of  a  lingering  disorder  (an  anasarca),  and  wished 
me  to  be  often  with  him  when  he  was  ill ;  and  though  he 
never  wished  me  to  pray  with  him  when  we  were  left  alone, 
always  gave  the  conversation  a  serious  turn,  and  talked  like  a 
man  who  knew  he  was  dying.  His  lady  (Lady  Christian 
Hamilton,  a  sister  of  the  celebrated  Lord  Binning,  who  died 
before  him)  had  warned  me  against  speaking  to  him  about 
death,  "  for  Jamie,"  she  said,  "  was  timid ; "  so  I  allowed  him 
always  to  lead  the  conversation.  One  day  we  were  talking 
of  the  deistical  controversy,  and  of  the  progress  of  deism, 
when  he  told  me  that  he  knew  Collins,  the  author  of  one  of 
the  shrewdest  books  against  revealed  religion.  He  said  he 
was  one  of  the  best  men  he  ever  had  known,  and  practised 
every  Christian  virtue  without  believing  in  the  Gospel ;  and 


172  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

added,  that  though  he  had  swam  ashore  on  a  plank  —  for  he 
was  sure  he  must  be  in  heaven  —  yet  it  was  not  for  other 
people  to  throw  themselves  into  the  sea  at  a  venture.  This 
proved  him  to  be  a  sincere  though  liberal-minded  Christian. 
I  was  sorry  for  his  death,  for  he  was  respected  in  the  parish, 
and  had  treated  me  with  much  kindness. 

There  was  a  Mr.  James  Graham,  advocate,  living  here  at 
this  time,  a  man  of  distinguished  parts  and  great  business. 
He  was  raised  to  the  bench  in  1749,  and  died  in  1751.  He 
had  one  daughter,  Mrs.  Baron  Mure.  He  was  an  open, 
friendly  man,  and  gave  me  every  sort  of  countenance  both  as 
his  minister  and  friend,  and  was  a  man  of  great  public  spirit. 
He  was  liable  in  a  great  degree  to  a  nervous  disorder,  which 
oppressed  him  with  low  spirits  :  he  knew  when  he  was  going 
to  fall  ill,  and  as  it  sometimes  confined  him  for  three  months, 
he  sent  back  his  fees  to  the  agents,  who  all  of  them  waited 
till  he  recovered,  and  applied  to  him  again.  He  \vas  Dougal- 
stone's  brother,  and  a  very  powerful  barrister.* 

Lord  Elchies,  a  senior  Judge,  lived  at  Carberry,  in  the 
parish,  and  was  in  all  respects  a  most  regular  and  exemplary 
parishioner.f  His  lady,  who  was  a  sister  of  Sir  Robert  Dick- 
son's,  was  dead,  and  his  family  consisted  of  three  sons  and 
three  or  four  daughters,  unmarried,  for  some  of  the  elder  daugh 
ters  were  married.  He  came  every  Sunday  with  all  his  family 
to  church,  and  remained  to  the  afternoon  service.  As  he 
lived  in  the  House  of  Carberry,  he  had  the  aisle  in  the  church 
which  belonged  to  that  estate,  where  there  was  a  very  good 
room,  where  he  retired  to  a  cold  collation,  and  took  Sir  Robert 

*  Dougalston  was  the  name  of  the  family  estate,  inherited  by  the  elder 
brother.  The  Judge  took  the  title  of  Lord  Easdale.  —  ED. 

t  Patrick  Grant,  Lord  Elchies,  well  known  to  lawyers  by  his  Collection 
of  Reports  of  the  Decisions  of  the  Court  of  Session  from  1733  to  1754,  ar 
ranged  in  alphabetical  order,  according  to  the  matter  of  the  legal  principle 
involved  in  each  case.  See  TYTLER'S  Life  of  Kames,  i.  39.  —  ED. 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  173 

Dickson  and  me  always  with  him  when  I  did  not  preach  in 
the  afternoon.  He  was  an  eminent  Judge,  and  had  great 
knowledge  of  the  law  ;  but  though  he  was  held  to  be  a  severe 
character,  I  found  him  a  man  agreeable  and  good-tempered  in 
society.  He  attended  as  an  elder  at  the  time  that  the  sacra 
ment  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered,  and  followed 
one  practice,  in  which  he  was  singular.  It  is  the  custom  for 
elders  to  serve  tables  in  sets  and  by  turns,  that  all  may  serve 
and  none  be  fatigued.  When  it  was  his  turn  to  retire  to  his 
seat,  he  entered  it,  as  it  was  close  by  the  communion-table,  but 
never  sat  down  till  the  elements  were  removed,  which  could 
not  be  less  than  an  hour  and  a  half.  I  mentioned  this  singu 
larity  to  him  one  day,  wishing  to  have  it  explained,  when  he 
said  that  he  thought  it  irreverent  for  any  one  who  ministered 
at  the  table  to  sit  down  while  the  sacred  symbols  were  present. 
He  removed  to  the  House  of  Inch,  nearer  Edinburgh  (when 
an  owner  came  to  live  at  Carberry,  about  the  year  1752),  and 
died  of  a  fever  in  1754,  being  one  of  nine  Judges  who  died  in 
the  course  of  two  years,  or  a  little  more.  His  eldest  son  was 
Mr.  Baron  Grant ;  his  second,  Robert,  captain  of  a  fifty-gun 
ship,  died  young  ;  Andrew,  the  third,  survived  his  brothers, 
and  died,  as  the  Baron  did,  in  Granada. 

Sir  Robert  Dickson  of  Carberry,  Bart.,  was  great-grandson 
of  Dr.  David  Dickson,  a  celebrated  professor  of  divinity  in 
Edinburgh,  who  was  one  of  the  committee  who  attended  the 
Scotch  army  in  England,  in  Charles  I.'s  time,  and  got  his 
share  of  the  sum  that  was  paid  for  delivering  the  King  to  the 
English  army.  His  having  acquired  an  estate  in  those  days 
does  not  imply  that  he  had  acquired  much  money,  for  land 
was  very  cheap  in  those  days.  There  was  annexed  to  the 
estate  the  lordship  of  Inveresk,  now  in  the  Duke  of  Buc- 
cleuch,  with  the  patronage  of  the  parish. 

This  Sir  Robert,  being  a  weak,  vain  man,  had  got  through 


174  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

his  whole  fortune.  The  estate  was  sold,  and  he  now  lived  in 
a  house  in  Inveresk,  opposite  to  Mr.  Colt's,  called  Rosebank, 
built  near  a  hundred  years  before  by  Sir  Thomas  Young, 
Knight.  Sir  Robert  Dickson's  lady  was  a  daughter  of 
Douglas  of  Dornoch,  a  worthy  and  patient  woman,  who 
thought  it  her  duty  not  only  to  bear,  but  palliate  the  weak 
nesses  and  faults  of  her  husband.  They  had  one  son,  Robert, 
who  was  in  the  same  classes  at  the  College  with  me,  and  was 
very  promising.  He  went  young  to  the  East  Indies  to  try  to 
mend  their  broken  fortunes,  and  died  in  a  few  years.  There 
were  three  or  four  daughters.  Sir  Robert  had  obtained  an 
office  in  the  Customs  or  Excise  of  about  £  130,  on  which, 
by  the  good  management  of  his  wife  and  daughters,  he  in 
those  days  lived  very  decently,  and  was  respected  by  the 
common  people,  as  he  had  been  once  at  the  head  of  the  par 
ish.  He  loved  twopenny  and  low  company,  which  contributed 
to  his  popularity,  together  with  his  being  mild  and  silent  even 
in  his  cups. 

Colin  Campbell,  Esq.,  who  had  been  Collector  at  Preston- 
pans,  and  was  promoted  to  the  Board  of  Customs  in  1738, 
lived  now  at  Pinkie  House,  and  had  several  sons  and  daugh 
ters,  my  early  companions. 

There  lived  at  that  time,  in  the  corner  of  Pinkie  House, 
by  himself,  Archibald  Robertson,  commonly  called  the  Gospel, 
uncle  to  the  celebrated  Dr.  Robertson,  —  a  very  singular 
character,  who  made  great  part  of  our  amusement  at  Pinkie 
House,  as  he  came  through  a  passage  from  his  own  apartment 
every  night  to  supper,  and  dined  there  likewise,  as  often  as 
he  pleased,  for  which  he  paid  them  a  cart  of  coals  in  the  week, 
as  he  took  charge  of  Pinkie  coal,  which  his  brother-in-law, 
William  Adam,  architect,  and  he,  had  a  lease  of.  He  was  a 
rigid  Presbyterian,  and  a  severe  old  bachelor,  whose  humors 
diverted  us  much.  He  was  at  first  very  fond  of  me,  because 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  175 

he  said  I  had  common-sense,  but  he  doubted  I  had  but  little 
of  the  grace  of  God  in  me ;  and  when  Dr.  George  Kay,  one 
of  his  great  friends,  posed  him  on  that  notion,  he  could  not 
explain  what  he  meant,  but  answered  that  I  was  too  good 
company  to  have  any  deep  tincture  of  religion.  Kay  then 
asked  if  he  thought  he  had  any  grace,  as  he  had  seen  him 
much  amused  and  pleased  when  he  sang,  which  was  more 
than  I  could  do.  He  replied,  that  his  singing,  though  so  ex 
cellent,  did  not  much  raise  him  in  his  opinion. 

There  was  likewise  living  at  Inveresk,  John  Murray,  Esq., 
Clerk  of  Session,  of  the  Ochtertyre  family,  who,  having  been 
a  rake  and  spendthrift,  had  married  Lucky  Thorn,  a  celebrated 
tavern-keeper,  to  clear  £  4,000  of  debt  that  he  had  contracted 
to  her.*  She  was  dead,  but  there  was  a  fine  girl  of  a  daugh 
ter,  who  kept  house  for  her  father.  There  was  very  good 
company,  especially  of  the  Jacobite  party,  came  about  the 
house,  where  I  was  very  often. 

There  was  likewise  Mr.  Oliver  Colt,  who  resided  in  the 
family  house  in  Inveresk,  who,  in  two  or  three  years  after 
wards,  by  the  death  of  an  uncle  and  brother,  had  come  to  a 
large  fortune.  He  was  descended  of  those  clergymen  of  the 
parish,  the  first  of  whom  was  ordained  in  1609,  whose  father, 
I  have  heard,  was  a  professor  at  St.  Andrews. 

Oliver  was  a  man  of  mean  appearance  and  habits,  and  had 
passed  much  of  his  time  with  the  magistrates  and  burghers  of 
Musselburgh,  and,  having  humor,  was  a  great  master  of  their 
vulgar  wit.  When  he  grew  rich,  he  was  deserted  by  his  old 
friends,  and  had  not  manners  to  draw  better  company  about 
him,  insomuch  that,  having  been  confined  for  a  good  while  to 
his  house  by  illness,  though  not  keeping  his  room,  when  an 

*  Lest  the  reader  should  doubt  the  printer's  accuracy,  it  is  deemed  pru 
dent  to  state  that  £  4,000  is  the  actual  amount  stated  in  the  author's  MS. 

—ED. 


176  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

old  lady,  a  Mrs.  Carse,  went  in  to  ask  for  him,  he  complained 
bitterly  that  it  was  the  forty-third  day  that  he  had  been  con 
fined,  and  no  neighbor  had  ever  come  near  him.  He  married 
afterwards  a  lady  of  quality,  and  had  enough  of  company. 
His  son  Robert,  who  died  in  1798,  was  one  of  the  best  and 
worthiest  men  that  ever  the  parish  bred  in  my  time,  and  I 
was  much  afflicted  with  his  early  death. 

The  magistrates  and  town-council  were  at  this  time  less 
respectable  than  they  had  been  ;  for  the  Whigs,  in  1745,  had 
turned  out  the  Jacobites,  who  were  more  gentlemanlike  than 
their  successors,  and  were  overlooked  by  Government,  as 
Musselburgh  was  only  a  burgh  of  regality,  dependent  on  the 
Duke  of  Buccleuch.  The  new  magistrates  were  of  very  low 
manners  and  habits,  but  good  -Whigs  and  Presbyterians.  All 
of  the  burghers,  except  two  of  the  old  magistrates,  Smart  and 
Vernon,  still  preserved  the  old  custom  at  their  family  feasts 
of  making  the  company  pay  for  their  drink.  There  were  few 
or  no  shops  in  the  town,  and  but  one  in  each  of  the  streets  of 
Musselburgh  and  Fisherrow,  where  even  a  pound  of  sugar 
could  be  bought,  and  that  always  one  penny  per  pound  dearer 
than  at  Edinburgh  ;  so  that  they  had  very  little  sale  at  a  time 
when  a  woman  would  have  run  to  Edinburgh  with  her  basket, 
and  brought  half  a  hundredweight  for  a  groat,  which  did  not 
rise  to  above  sixpence  till  after  the  year  1760. 

There  were  no  lodging-houses  at  this  time  in  the  town,  and 
as  it  was  a  dragoon  quarter,  where  generally  two  troops  lay, 
the  officers  were  obliged  to  accept  their  billets  in  burghers' 
houses.  The  only  lodging  I  remember  was  in  a  by-street, 
between  Musselburgh  and  Newbigging,  where  the  late  Gen 
eral  George  Ward  and  his  chum  lodged  for  a  year,  and  where 
a  corporal  and  his  wife  would  not  think  themselves  well  ac 
commodated  now.  As  in  those  days  the  dragoons  generally 
stayed  two  years  in  Scotland,  and  did  not  always  change 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  177 

quarters  at  the  end  of  a  year,  I  became  intimate  with  Ward, 
then  a  lieutenant,  a  sensible  man  and  a  good  scholar,  and 
pleasant  company,  though  he  stuttered. 

I  have  not  yet  mentioned  the  two  most  able  inhabitants  here 
at  this  time,  who  were  Alexander  Wood,  surgeon,  and  Com 
missioner  Cardonnel.  Sandie  Wood  was  very  young,  not 
above  twenty-one  or  twenty-two  ;  but  there  being  an  opening 
here  by  means  of  the  illness  of  the  senior  practitioner,  Wood 
was  invited  out  by  a  few  of  the  principal  people,  and  got  im 
mediately  into  some  business.  fLis  father,  an  opulent  farmer 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Edinburgh,  had  bound  him  an  appren 
tice  to  his  brother,  a  surgeon,  well  employed  by  people  of  in 
ferior  rank,  and  surgeon  to  the  poorhouse,  then  recently  erected. 
Sandie  Wood  was  a  handsome,  stout  fellow,  with  fine  black 
eyes,  and  altogether  of  an  agreeable  and  engaging  appearance. 
He  was  perfectly  illiterate  in  everything  that  did  not  belong 
to  his  own  profession,  in  which  even  he  was  by  no  means  a 
great  student.  Some  scrapes  he  got  into  with  women  drove 
him  from  this  place  in  two  or  three  years  for  his  good.  One 
gentlewoman  he  got  with  child,  and  did  not  marry.  When 
he  had  got  over  this  difficulty,  another  fell  with  child  to  him, 
whom  he  married.  She  died  of  her  child  ;  and  Sanders  was 
soon  after  called  to  a  berth  in  Edinburgh,  on  the  death  of  his 
uncle. 

Sanders  supplied  his  want  of  learning  with  good  sense,  and 
a  mind  as  decisive  as  his  eye  was  quick.  *  He  knew  the  symp 
toms  of  disease  with  a  glance,  and  having  no  superfluous  talk 
about  politics  or  news  —  for  books  very  few  of  the  profes 
sion  knew  anything  about  —  he  wasted  no  time  in  idle  talk, 
like  many  of  his  brethren,  but  passed  on  through  steep  and 
narrow  lanes,  and  upright  stairs  of  six  or  seven  stories  high, 
by  which  means  he  got  soon  into  good  business,  and  at  last, 
his  hands  being  as  good  as  his  eyes,  on  the  death  of  George 
8*  L 


178  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

Lauder  he  became  the  greatest  and  most  successful  operator 
for  the  stone,  and  for  all  other  difficult  cases.  His  manners 
were  careless  and  unpolished,  and  his  roughness  often  offend 
ed  ;  but  it  was  soon  discovered  that,  in  spite  of  his  usual  de 
meanor,  he  was  remarkably  tender-hearted,  and  never  slighted 
any  case  where  there  was  the  least  danger.  I  found  him  al 
ways  a  very  honest,  friendly,  and  kind  physician.  He  is  doing 
business  yet  in  his  seventy-fourth  year,  and  although  his  facul 
ties  are  impaired,  and  his  operations  long  over,  he  gives  satis 
faction  to  his  patients.  He  ha£  always  been  convivial,  belongs 
to  many  clubs,  and  sings  a  good  song. 

The  other  person  was  Mansfelt  Cardonnel,  Esq.,  Commis 
sioner  of  the  Customs.  His  father,  Adam  de  Cardonnel  (for 
they  were  French  Protestants  by  descent),  had  been  secretary 
to  the  Duke  of  Schomberg,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
the  Boyne,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  He  had  been  affronted  the 
day  before  by  King  William  not  having  intrusted  him  as  usual 
with  his  plan  of  the  battle,  as  Adam  de  Cardonnel  told  his 
son.  Another  brother,  James,  was  secretary  to  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough,  and  had  made  a  large  fortune.  His  daughter 
and  heiress  was  Lady  Talbot,  mother  of  Lord  Dynevor.  My 
friend's  mother  was  a  natural  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth ;  and  as  he  was  by  some  other  line  related  to  "Waller 
the  poet,  he  used  to  boast  of  his  being  descended  from  the 
Usurper  as  well  as  the  royal  line.  He  was  not  a  man  of 
much  depth  or  genius,  but  he  had  a  right  sound  understand 
ing,  and  was  a  man  of  great  honor  and  integrity,  and  the  most 
agreeable  companion  that  ever  was.  He  excelled  in  story 
telling,  like  his  great-grandfather,  Charles  II.,  but  he  seldom 
or  ever  repeated  them,  and  indeed  had  such  a  collection  as 
served  to  season  every  conversation.  He  was  very  fond  of 
my  companions,  particularly  of  John  Home,  who  was  very 
often  with  me.  On  a  very  limited  income  he  lived  very  hos- 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  179 

pitably ;  he  had  many  children,  but  only  one  son,  a  doctor, 
remained.  The  son  is  now  Adam  de  Cardonnel  Lawson  of 
Chirton,  close  by  Sheills,  a  fine  estate  that  was  left  him  by  a 
Mr.  Hilton  Lawson,  a  cousin  of  his  mother's,  whose  name  was 
Hilton,  of  the  Hilton  Castle  family,  near  Sunderland.* 

There  was  another  gentleman,  whom  I  must  mention,  who 
then  lived  at  Lorretto,  a  Mr.  Hew  Forbes,  a  Principal  Clerk 
of  Session.  He  was  a  nephew  of  the  celebrated  President 
Duncan  Forbes,  and  had,  at  the  request  of  his  uncle,  pur 
chased  Lorretto  from  John  Steel,  a  minion  of  the  President's, 
who  had  been  a  singer  in  the  concert,  but  had  lost  his  voice, 
and  was  patronized  by  his  lordship,  and  had  for  some  years 
kept  a  celebrated  tavern  in  that  house.  Hew  Forbes  was  the 
second  of  three  brothers,  whom  I  have  seen  together,  and,  to 
my  taste,  had  more  wit  and  was  more  agreeable  than  either 
of  them.  Arthur,  the  eldest,  laird  of  Pittencrieff  and  a  col 
onel  in  the  Dutch  service,  was  a  man  of  infinite  humor,  which 
consisted  much  in  his  instantaneous  and  lively  invention  of 
fictions  and  tales  to  illustrate  or  ridicule  the  conversation  that 
was  going  on  ;  and  as  his  tales  were  inoffensive,  though  totally 
void  of  truth,  they  afforded  great  amusement  to  every  com 
pany.  The  third  brother,  John,  was  the  gentleman  who  re 
trieved  our  affairs  in  North  America,  after  Braddock's  defeat. 
He  was  an  accomplished,  agreeable  gentleman,  but  there  ap 
peared  to  me  to  be  more  effort  and  less  naivete'  in  his  conver 
sation  than  in  that  of  Hew,  whose  humor  was  genuine  and 
natural. 

*  There  is  an  "  Adam  de  Cardonnel,"  known  as  the  author  of  a  work  on 
the  Scottish  Coinage,  and  of  Picturesque  Antiquities  of  Scotland,  containing 
etchings  of  many  of  the  ruined  ecclesiastical  and  baronial  buildings  of  Scot 
land.  The  editor  has  often  endeavored,  without  success,  to  find  out  Avho  it 
was  that  took  so  much  interest  in  these  architectural  relics,  and  made  so 
meritorious  an  effort  to  represent  them  in  his  sketches.  From  his  peculiar 
name  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  family  referred 
to  bv  the  author.  —  ED. 


180  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

• 

With  so  many  resident  families  of  distinction,  my  situation 
was  envied  as  superior  to  most  clergymen  for  good  company 
and  agreeable  society  ;  and  so  it  was  at  that  period  preferable 
to  what  it  has  often  been  since,  when  the  number  of  genteel 
families  was  doubled  or  trebled,  as  they  have  long  been.  But 
though  I  lived  very  well  with  the  upper  families,  and  could 
occasionally  consort  with  the  burgesses,  some  of  whom,  though 
unpolished,  were  sensible  people  ;  yet  my  chief  society  was 
with  John  Home,  and  Robertson,  and  Bannatine,  and  George 
Logan,  who  were  clergymen  about  my  own  age,  and  very 
accomplished. 

In  the  month  of  October  this  year  I  had  a  very  agreeable 
jaunt  to  Dumfriesshire  to  attend  the  marriage  of  my  cousin, 
Jean  Wight,  with  John  Hamilton,  the  minister  of  Bolton. 
She  was  very  handsome,  sprightly,  and  agreeable,  —  about 

twenty  ;  he  a  sensible,  knowing  man *  John 

Home  was  his  "  best  man  ; "  I  was  the  lady's  attendant  of 
the  same  occupation,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  times. 
We  set  out  together  on  horseback,  but  so  contrived  it  that  we 
had  very  little  of  the  bridegroom ;  for  being  in  a  greater  haste 
to  get  to  his  journey's  end  than  we  were,  he  was  always  at  the 
baiting-place  an  hour  before  us,  where,  after  our  meal,  we 
lingered  as  long  after  he  had  departed.  Our  grandfather 
Robison  wished  to  solemnize  this  first  marriage  of  any  of  his 
grandchildren  at  his  own  house  at  Tinwald,  which,  though  an 
ordinary  manse,  had  thirty  people  to  sleep  in  it  for  two  or 
three  nights.  John  Home  and  I  had  been  one  day  in  Dum 
fries  with  the  bridegroom,  where  we  met  with  George  Banna- 

*  The  rest  of  his  character  is  scored  out,  so  as  to  ue  totally  illegible ;  and 
in  the  handwriting  in  which  the  original  MS.  is  altered  throughout,  the  sen 
tence  stands,  "  He  was  not  less  than  thirty-five ;  and  though  a  sensible, 
knowing  man,  was  in  other  respects  seemingly  unsuitable  for  a  young  and 
lively  woman." 


SCOTCH  HUMOR.  181 

tine,  our  friend  Hew's  brother,  at  that  time  minister  of  Craigie. 
As  he  was  an  old  schoolfellow  of  Hamilton's,  we  easily  in 
duced  him  to  ask  him  to  the  marriage  ;  and  George,  having 
a  great  deal  of  Falstaffian  humor,  helped  much  to  enliven  the 
company.  Home  and  he  and  I,  with  Willie  Wight,  the  bride's 
brother,  then  a  fine  lad  of  eighteen,  had  to  ride  four  miles  into 
Dumfries  to  our  lodgings  at  Provost  Bell's,  another  uncle  of 
mine,  after  supper,  where  Bannatine's  vein  of  humor  kept  us 
in  perpetual  laughter. 

I  shall  take  this  opportunity  of  correcting  a  mistake  into 
which  the  English  authors  have  fallen,  in  which  they  are 
supported  by  many  of  the  Scotch  writers,  particularly  by 
those  of  the  Mirror,  —  which  is,  that  the  people  of  Scotland 
have  no  humor.  That  this  is  a  gross  mistake,  could  be  proved 
by  innumerable  songs,  ballads,  and  stories  that  are  prevalent 
in  the  south  of  Scotland,  and  by  every  person  old  enough  to 
remember  the  times  when  the  Scottish  dialect  was  spoken  in 
purity  in  the  low  country,  and  who  have  been  at  all  con 
versant  with  the  common  people.  Since  we  began  to  affect 
speaking  a  foreign  language,  which  the  English  dialect  is  to 
us,  humor,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  less  apparent  in  conversa 
tion.  The  ground  of  this  pretension  in  the  English  to  the 
monopoly  of  humor  is  their  confounding  two  characters  to 
gether  that  are  quite  different,  —  the  humorist  and  the  man 
of  humor.  The  humorist  prevails  more  in  England  than  in 
any  country,  because  liberty  has  long  been  universal  there, 
and  wealth  very  general,  which  I  hold  to  be  the  father  and 
mother  of  the  humorist.  This  mistake  has  been  confirmed  by 
the  abject  humor  of  the  Scotch,  who,  till  of  late  years,  allowed 
John  Bull,  out  of  flattery,  to  possess  every  quality  to  which 
he  pretended. 

John  Home  was  an  admirable  companion,  and  most  accept 
able  to  all  strangers  who  were  not  offended  with  the  levities 


182  JOHN  HOME. 

of  a  young  clergyman,  for  he  was  very  handsome  and  had  a 
fine  person,  about  5  feet  10 J  inches,  and  an  agreeable,  catch 
ing  address  ;  he  had  not  much  wit,  and  still  less  humor,  but 
he  had  so  much  sprightliness  and  vivacity,  and  such  an  ex 
pression  of  benevolence  in  his  manner,  and  such  an  unceasing 
flattery  of  those  he  liked  (and  he  never  kept  company  with 
anybody  else),  —  the  kind  commendations  of  a  lover,  not  the 
adulation  of  a  sycophant,  —  that  he  was  truly  irresistible,  and 
his  entry  to  a  company  was  like  opening  a  window  and  letting 
the  sun  into  a  dark  room. 

After  passing  eight  days  at  Dumfries,  with  such  a  variety 
of  amusement  as  would  fill  half  a  volume  of  a  novel,  we  re 
turned  with  our  young  couple  home  to  East  Lothian,  and 
passed  two  or  three  days  with  them  at  their  residence. 

There  was  an  assistant  preacher  at  Inveresk  when  I  was 
ordained,  whose  name  was  George  Anderson,  the  son  of  a 
clergyman  in  Fife,  and,  by  his  mother,  grandson  of  a  Pro 
fessor  Campbell  of  Edinburgh,  who  made  a  figure  in  the 
divinity  chair  towards  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
His  aunt  was  the  mother  of  Dr.  John  Gregory  of  Edinburgh ; 
but  he  had  not  partaken  of  the  smallest  spark  of  genius  from 
either  of  the  families.  He  was  good-natured  and  laborious 
in  the  parish,  however,  and  likely  to  fall  into  the  snare  of 
such  kind  of  people,  by  partaking  of  their  morning  hospi 
tality, —  viz.  a  dram,  very  usual  in  those  days.  He  was 
reckoned  an  excellent  preacher  by  the  common  people,  be 
cause  he  got  a  sermon  faithfully  by  heart  (his  father's  I 
suppose),  and  delivered  it  with  a  loudness  and  impetuosity 
surpassing  any  schoolboy,  without  making  a  halt  or  stop  from 
beginning  to  end.  This  galloping  sort  of  preaching  pleased 
the  lairds  as  well  as  the  people,  for  Sir  David  Kinloch  was 
much  taken  with  him,  and  he  would  have  been  popular  in  all 
respects  had  not  his  conversation  and  conduct  betrayed  his 


THE  MINISTER'S  ASSISTANT.  183 

folly.  With  a  very  small  income,  he  ventured  [to  marry]  a 
handsome  sempstress,  Peggy  Derquier,  the  daughter  of 
a  Swiss  ensign  who  had  got  into  the  British  army.  They 
had  children,  and  a  very  slender  subsistence,  not  above  £  40 
per  annum,  so  that  I  was  obliged  to  look  about  for  some  better 
berth  for  them.  At  last,  in  1751,  a  place  cast  up  in  South 
Carolina,  to  which  he  and  his  family  were  with  difficulty  sent 
out,  as  a  sum  of  money  had  to  be  borrowed  to  fit  out  him  and 
his  wife  and  two  children  for  the  voyage.  I  was  one  of  his 
securities  for  the  money,  and  lost  nothing  but  the  interest  of 
£  50  for  two  years.  His  wife  was  mettlesome,  and  paid  up 
the  money  the  year  after  he  died,  which  was  not  above  two 
years  ;  for  poor  George,  being  a  guzzling  fellow,  could  not 
remain  long  enough  from  Charleston,  near  which  his  meet 
ing-house  was,  till  he  recovered  his  strength  after  a  severe 
fever :  the  rum-punch  got  the  better  of  him,  and  he  relapsed 
and  died.  His  widow,  being  still  handsome  and  broody, 
married  well  next  time,  and  got  her  children  well  provided 
for. 

In  a  ludicrous  poem  which  John  Home  wrote  on  the  march 
of  his  Volunteers  to  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  he  gives  Anderson 
his  character  under  the  nickname  of  Lungs  —  for  the  wags 
called  him  Carlyle's  Lungs  on  account  of  his  loud  preaching 
—  of  which  I  remember  one  line, — 

"  And  if  you  did  not  beat  him,  Lungs  was  pleased." 

Like  other  gluttons,  Lungs  was  a  coward,  and  the  first  man 
at  Leith  after  the  battle  —  for  he  was  a  Volunteer  in  the  com 
pany  of  which  Home  was  a  lieutenant  —  and  showed  his  ac 
tivity  chiefly  in  providing  the  company  with  victuals  and 
drink,  in  begging  of  which  he  had  no  shame. 


CHAPTER     VI. 

1748-1753:   AGE,  26-31. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  MATTERS.  —  THE  AFFAIR  OF  GEORGE  LOGAN.  — 
SKETCHES  OF  THE  CLERGY.  —  WEBSTER.  —  WALLACE.  —  CONTEM 
PORARY  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH.  —  THE  "  MODERATES  "  AND  THE 
"WILD"  PARTY.  —  THE  PATRONAGE  QUESTION.  —  RIDING  COMMIT 
TEES. —  REVOLUTION  IN  CHURCH  POLITY,  AND  CARLYLE'S  SHARE  IN 
IT.  —  SKETCHES  OF  LEADERS  IN  THE  ASSEMBLY.  —  LORD  ISLAY, 
MARCHMONT,  SIR  GILBERT  ELLIOT.  —  PRINCIPAL  TULLIDELPH.* 

IN  winter  1748  I  remained  much  at  home  in  my  own 
parish,  performing  my  duties,  and  becoming  acquainted  with 
my  flock.  The  Cheaps  took  a  house  in  Edinburgh  this  winter 
to  entertain  Captain  Cheap,  who,  being  a  man  past  fifty,  and 
a  good  deal  worn  out,  his  very  sensible  niece  thought  he  would 
never  marry,  and  therefore  brought  her  young  female  com 
panions  about  to  amuse  him.  Among  the  rest  she  had  much 
with  her  the  Widow  Brown,  Anny  Clerk  that  was,  whose  hus 
band,  Major  Brown  [was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Falkirk  f], 
She  was  a  handsome,  lively  coquette  as  ever  was,  being  of  a 
gay  temper  and  a  slight  understanding.  My  sagacious  friend 
had  taken  her  measures  ill  indeed,  for,  as  she  told  me  after 
wards,  she  never  dreamed  that  her  grave,  respectable  uncle 

*  For  further  information  on  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  the  time  dis 
cussed  in  this  chapter,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Annals  of  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  the  Cliurch  of  Scotland  from  1739  to  1766,  known  as  "  Morren's  Annals," 
and  to  The  Clmrch  History  of  Scotland,  by  the  Rev.  John  Cunningham, 
minister  of  Crieff,  1859. 

t  Left  blank  by  Carlyle,  and  filled  up  in  another  hand. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  AFFAIRS.  185 

would  be  catched  with  a  woman  of  Mrs.  Brown's  description. 
But  he  was  so  captivated  at  the  very  first  glance  that  he  very 
soon  proposed  marriage  ;  and  having  executed  his  design,  and 
taken  the  House  of  Preston  for  next  summer,  they  came  and 
lived  there  for  several  months,  where  I  saw  them  frequently, 
and  was  asked  to  marry  a  niece  of  hers  with  a  gentleman  at 
Dunbar,  which  I  accordingly  did.  They  went  to  Bath  and 
London,  where  his  niece  joined  him  in  1749. 

It  was  in  the  General  Assembly  of  this  year  that  some 
zealous  west-country  clergymen  formed  the  plan  of  applying 
to  Parliament  for  a  general  augmentation  of  stipends,  by  rais 
ing  the  minimum  from  800  merks  to  10  chalders  of  grain, 
or  its  value  in  money.  The  clergy  having  shown  great  loy 
alty  and  zeal  during  the  Rebellion  in  1745,  which  was  ac 
knowledged  by  Government,  they  presumed  that  they  would 
obtain  favor  on  this  occasion  ;  but  they  had  not  consulted  the 
landed  interest,  nor  even  taken  the  leaders  among  the  Whigs 
along  with  them,  which  was  the  cause  of  their  miscarriage. 
The  committee  appointed  by  this  Assembly  to  prepare  the 
form  of  their  application  brought  it  into  next  Assembly,  and 
by  a  very  great  majority  agreed  to  send  commissioners  to 
London  the  session  thereafter  to  prosecute  their  claim,  which, 
when  it  failed,  raised  some  ill-humor,  for  they  had  been  very 
sanguine.  Dr.  Patrick  Cuming,  who  was  then  the  leader  of 
the  Moderate  party,  lent  his  whole  aid  to  this  scheme,  and 
was  one  of  the  commissioners.  This  gave  him  still  a  greater 
lead  among  the  clergy.  The  same  thing  happened  to  Lord 
Drummore,  the  judge,  who  espoused  their  cause  warmly.  Oil 
the  other  hand,  Principal  Wishart  and  his  brother  George 
followed  Dundas  of  Arniston,  the  first  President  of  that  name, 
and  lost  their  popularity.  Of  the  two  brothers  William  and 
George  Wishart,  sons  of  Principal  Wishart,  William  the  eld 
est,  and  Principal  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  was  the 


186  ECCLESIASTICAL  AFFAIRS. 

most  learned  and  ingenuous,  but  he  had  been  for  seventeen 
years  a  dissenting  minister  in  London,  and  returned  with  dis 
senting  principles.  He  had  said  some  things  rashly  while  the 
augmentation  scheme  was  going  on,  which  betrayed  contempt 
of  the  clergy ;  and  as  he  was  rich,  and  had  the  expectation  of 
still  more  —  being  the  heir  of  his  two  uncles,  Admiral  and 
General  Wisharts,  of  Queen  Anne's  reign  —  his  sayings  gave 
still  greater  offence.  George,  the  younger  brother,  was  milder 
and  more  temperate,  and  was  a  more  acceptable  preacher 
than  his  brother,  though  inferior  to  him  in  genius  ;  but  his 
understanding  was  sound,  and  his  benevolence  unbounded,  so 
that  he  had  many  friends.  When  his  brother,  who  misled 
him  about  ecclesiastical  affairs,  died  in  1754,  he  came  back  to 
the  Moderate  party,  and  was  much  respected  among  us. 

About  this  period  it  was  that  John  Home  and  I,  being  left 
alone  with  Dr.  Patrick  Cuming  after  a  synod  supper,  he 
pressed  us  to  stay  with  him  a  little  longer ;  and  during  an 
hour  or  two's  conversation,  being  desirous  to  please  us,  who, 
he  thought,  would  be  of  some  consequence  in  church  courts,  he 
threw  out  all  his  lures  to  gain  us  to  be  his  implicit  followers  ; 
but  he  failed  in  his  purpose,  having  gone  too  far  in  his  ani 
mosity  to  George  Wishart  —  for  we  gave  up  the  Principal. 
We  said  to  each  other  when  we  parted  that  we  would  support 
him  when  he  acted  right,  but  would  never  be  intimate  with 
him  as  a  friend. 

It  was  the  custom  at  this  time  for  the  patrons  of  parishes, 
when  they  had  litigations  about  settlements,  which  sometimes 
lasted  for  years,  to  open  public-houses  to  entertain  the  mem 
bers  of  Assembly,  which  was  a  very  gross  and  offensive  abuse. 
The  Duke  of  Douglas  had  a  cause  of  this  kind,  which  lasted 
for  three  Assemblies,  on  which  occasion  it  was  that  his  com 
missioner,  White  of  Stockbridge,  opened  a  daily  table  for  a 
score  of  people,  which  vied  with  the  Lord  Commissioner's  for 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  187 

dinners,  and  surpassed  it  far  in  wine.  White,  who  was  a  low 
man,  was  delighted  with  the  respect  which  these  dinners  pro 
cured  him.  After  the  case  was  finished,  Stockbridge  kept  up 
his  table  while  he  lived,  for  the  honor  of  the  family,  where  I 
have  often  dined,  after  his  Grace's  suit  was  at  an  end.  There 
was  another  of  the  same  kind  that  lasted  longer,  the  case  of 
St.  Ninian's,  of  which  Sir  Hew  Paterson  was  patron. 

John  Home  and  Robertson  and  Logan  and  I  entered  into 
a  resolution  to  dine  with  none  of  them  while  their  suits  were 
in  dependence.  This  resolution  we  kept  inviolably  when  we 
were  members,  and  we  were  followed  by  many  of  our  friends. 
Dr.  Patrick  Cuming  did  not  like  this  resolution  of  ours,  as  it 
showed  us  to  be  a  little  untractable  ;  but  it  added  to  our  im 
portance  ;  and  after  that  no  man,  not  even  Lord  Drummore, 
to  whom  I  was  so  much  obliged,  and  who  was  a  keen  party 
man,  ever  solicited  my  vote  in  any  judicial  case. 

The  Lord  President  Dundas,  who  led  the  opposition  to  the 
scheme  of  augmentation,  was  accounted  the  first  lawyer  this 
country  ever  had  bred.  He  was  a  man  of  a  high  and  ardent 
mind,  a  most  persuasive  speaker,  and  to  me,  who  met  him  but 
seldom  in  private,  one  of  the  ablest  men  I  had  ever  seen.  He 
declined  soon  after  this,  and  was  for  two  or  three  years  laid 
aside  from  business  before  his  death. 

Hew,  Earl  of  Marchmont,  appeared  in  this  Assembly,  who 
had  been  very  ignorantly  extolled  by  Pope,  whose  hemistichs 
stamped  characters  in  those  days.* 

In  winter  1749  it  was  that  John  Home  went  to  London 

*  "  Lo,  the  jEgerian  grot, 
Where  nobly  pensive  St.  John  sat  and  thought, 
Where  British  sighs  from  dying  Wyndham  stole, 
And  the  bright  flame  was  shot  through  Marchmont's  soul." 

The  passage  cited  farther  on  (p.  152)  is  from  the  inverted  characters  in  the 
epilogue  to  the  "  Satires:  "  — 


188  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

with  his  tragedy  of  Agis,  to  try  to  bring  it  on  the  stage,  in 
which  he  failed ;  which  was  the  cause  of  his  turning  his 
thoughts  on  the  tragedy  of  Douglas  after  his  return.  He  had 
a  recommendation  to  Mr  Lyttleton,  afterwards  Lord  Lyttleton, 
whom  he  could  not  so  much  as  prevail  with  to  read  his  trag 
edy  ;  and  his  brother,  afterwards  a  bishop,  would  not  so  much 
as  look  at  it,  as  he  said  he  had  turned  his  thoughts  to  natural 
history.  Home  was  enraged,  but  not  discouraged.  I  had 
given  him  a  letter  to  Smollett,  with  whom  he  contracted  a 
sincere  friendship,  and  he  consoled  himself  for  the  neglect  he 
met  with  by  the  warm  approbation  of  the  Doctor,  and  of  John 
Blair  and  his  friend  Barrow,  an  English  physician,  who  had 
escaped  with  him  from  the  Castle  of  Doune,  and  who  made 
him  acquainted  with  Collins  the  poet,  with  whom  he  grew 
very  intimate.  He  extended  not  his  acquaintance  much  fur 
ther  at  this  time,  except  to  a  Governor  Melville,  a  native  of 
Dunbar,  of  whom  he  was  fond ;  and  passed  a  good  deal  of 
time  with  Captain  Cheap's  family,  which  was  then  in  London. 

I  had  several  letters  from  him  at  that  time  which  displayed 
the  character  he  always  maintained,  which  was  a  thorough 
contempt  of  his  non-approvers,  and  a  blinded  admiration  of 
those  who  approved  of  his  works,  and  gave  him  a  good  recep 
tion,  whom  he  attached  still  more  to  him  by  the  most  caress 
ing  manners,  and  the  sincere  and  fervent  flattery  of  a  lover. 
In  all  the  periods  of  his  long  life  his  opinions  of  men  and 
things  were  merely  prejudices. 

It  was  in  the  year  1750,  I  think,  that  he  gave  his  manse 
(for  he  boarded  himself  in  a  house  in  the  village)  to  Mr. 

"  Cobham  's  a  coward,  Polwarth  is  a  slave, 
And  Littleton  a  dark  designing  knave." 

About  Lord  Polwarth,  afterwards  Earl  of  Marcbmont,  and  other  members 
of  his  family,  abundant  information  will  be  found  in  "  A  Selection  from  the 
Papers  of  the  Earls  of  Marchmont,"  3  vols.,  1831.  —  ED. 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  189 

Hepburn  of  Keith,  and  his  family,  —  a  gentleman  of  pristine 
faith  and  romantic  valor,  who  had  been  in  both  the  Rebellions, 
in  1715  and  '45  ;  and  had  there  been  a  third,  as  was  projected 
at  this  time,  would  have  joined  it  also.  Add  to  this,  that  Mr. 
Hepburn  was  an  accomplished  gentleman,  and  of  a  simple  and 
winning  elocution,  who  said  nothing  in  vain.  His  wife,  and 
his  daughters  by  a  former  lady,  resembled  him  in  his  sim 
plicity  of  mind,  but  propagated  his  doctrines  with  more  open 
ness  and  ardor,  and  a  higher  admiration  of  implicit  loyalty 
and  romantic  heroism.  It  was  the  seductive  conversation  of 
this  family  that  gradually  softened  and  cooled  Mr.  Home's 
aversion  to  the  Pretender  and  to  Jacobites  (for  he  had  been  a 
very  warm  Whig  in  the  time  of  the  Rebellion),  and  prepared 
him  for  the  life  he  afterwards  led. 

Mr.  Home,  in  his  History  of  the  Rebellion,  has  praised  this 
gentleman  for  an  act  of  gallant  behavior  in  becoming  Gentle 
man-Usher  to  Prince  Charles,  by  ushering  him  into  the  Abbey 
with  his  sword  drawn.  This  has  been  on  false  information ; 
for  his  son,  Colonel  Riccard  Hepburn,  denied  to  me  the  possi 
bility  of  it,  his  father  being  a  person  of  invincible  modesty, 
and  void  of  all  ostentation.  The  Colonel  added,  that  it  was 
his  father's  fortune  to  be  praised  for  qualities  he'  did  not  pos 
sess  —  for  learning,  for  instance,  of  which  he  had  no  great 
tincture,  but  in  mathematics  —  while  his  prime  quality  was 
omitted,  which  was  the  most  equal  and  placid  temper  with 
which  ever  mortal  was  endowed  ;  for  in  his  whole  life  he  was 
never  once  out  of  temper,  nor  did  ever  a  muscle  of  his  face 
alter  on  any  occurrence.  One  instance  he  told  of  a  serving- 
boy  having  raised  much  disturbance  one  day  in  the  kitchen  or 
hall.  When  his  father  rose  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  he 
found  the  boy  had  wantonly  run  a  spit  through  the  cat,  which 
lay  sprawling.  He  said  not  a  word,  but  took  the  boy  by  the 
shoulder,  led  him.  out  of  the  house-door,  and  locked  it  after 


190  HOME'S  "DOUGLAS." 

him,  and  returned  in  silence  to  play  out  his  game  of  chess 
with  his  daughter. 

It  was  from  his  having  heard  Mrs.  Janet  Denoon,  Mr.  Hep- 
burnCs  sister-in-law,  sing  the  old  ballad  of  "  Gil  Morrice,"  that 
he  [Home]  first  took  his  idea  of  the  tragedy  of  Douglas, 
which,  five  years  afterwards,  he  carried  to  London,  for  he  was 
but  an  idle  composer,  to  offer  it  for  the  stage,  but  with  the 
same  bad  success  as  formerly.  The  length  of  time  he  took, 
however,  tended  to  bring  it  to  perfection  ;  for  want  of  success, 
added  to  his  natural  openness,  made  him  communicate  his 
compositions  to  his  friends,  whereof  there  were  some  of  the 
soundest  judgment,  and  of  the  most  exquisite  taste.  Of  the 
first  sort  there  were  Drs.  Blair  and  Robertson,  and  Mr.  Hew 
Bannatine ;  and  of  the  second,  Patrick  Lord  Elibank,  the 
Hepburn  family,  and  some  young  ladies  with  whom  he  and  I 
had  become  intimate  —  viz.  Miss  Hepburn  of  Monkriggs, 
Lord  Milton's  niece  ;  Miss  Eliza  Fletcher,  afterwards  Mrs. 
Wedderburn,  his  youngest  daughter ;  and  Miss  Campbell  of 
Carrick,  at  that  time  their  great  friend.  As  Home  himself 
wrote  a  hand  that  was  hardly  legible,  and  at  that  time  could 
ill  afford  to  hire  an  amanuensis,  I  copied  Douglas  several  times 
over  for  him,  —  which,  by  means  of  the  corrections  of  all  the 
friends  I  have  mentioned,  and  the  fine  and  decisive  criticisms 
of  the  late  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  had  attained  to  the  perfection 
with  which  it  was  acted  ;  for  at  this  time  Home  was  tractable, 
and  listened  to  our  remarks. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  George  Logan,  the  son  of  a  min 
ister  in  Edinburgh  of  note,  was  presented  to  the  church  of 
Ormiston,  vacant  by  the  translation  of  Mr.  Hew  Bannatine 
to  Dirleton.  Logan  was  a  man  of  parts  and  genius,  and  of  a 
particular  turn  to  mathematical  and  metaphysical  studies,  but 
he  was  of  an  indolent  and  dilatory  disposition.  When  he 
passed  trials  before  the  Presbytery  of  Dalkeith,  he  met  with 


THE  CENSURED  SERMON.  191 

unexpected  opposition.  "When  he  came  to  the  last  of  his 
discourses,  which  was  the  popular  sermon,  from  Heb.  ii.  10 
was  appointed  to  him.  He  came  home  with  me,  and  inquir 
ing  if  my  popular  sermon,  when  I  was  licensed  by  the  Pres 
bytery  of  Haddington,  was  not  on  the  same  text,  which  was 
the  case,  he  pressed  me  to  lend  it  to  him,  as  it  would  save  him 
much  trouble,  to  which  I  with  reluctance  consented.  He 
copied  it  almost  verbatim,  and  delivered  it  at  our  next  meet 
ing.*  Being  averse  to  Logan,  many  of  them  thought  there 
was  heresy  in  it,  and  insisted  on  an  inquiry,  and  that  a  copy 
should  be  deposited  with  the  Clerk.  This  inquiry  went  on  for 
several  meetings,  till  at  last  Logan,  being  impatient,  as  he  had 
a  young  lady  engaged  to  marry  him,  took  the  first  opportunity 
of  appealing  to  the  Synod.  After  several  consultations  with 
our  ablest  divines,  who  were  Drs.  Wishart  and  Wallace,  with 
Professor  Goldie,  and  Messrs.  Dalgleish  of  Linlithgow,  Nas- 
smith  of  Dalmeny,  and  Stedman  of  Haddington,  it  was  agreed 
that  Logan's  sermon  was  perfectly  orthodox,  and  that  the 
Presbytery  in  their  zeal  had  run  into  heretical  opinions,  in 
somuch  that  those  friends  were  clear  in  their  judgment  that 
the  panel  should  be  assoilzied  and  the  Presbytery  taken  to 
task.  But  the  motive  I  have  already  mentioned  induced 
young  Logan  to  be  desirous  of  making  matters  up  without 
irritating  the  Presbytery,  and  therefore  it  was  agreed  that  he 
should  make  a  slight  apology  to  the  Presbytery,  and  that  they 
should  be  ordained  to  proceed  in  the  settlement.  Yet,  in  spite 

*  Popular  Sermon.  The  sermon  preached  to  the  people  of  the  parish  by 
a  presentee,  as  distinguished  from  the  other  trials  of  .his  fitness,  which  take 
place  in  the  presence  of  the  Presbytery.  The  Logan  here  mentioned  is  not 
the  poet;  and  it  is  perhaps  still  more  necessary  to  distinguish  him  from  a 
contemporary,  George  Logan,  also  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  eminent  in  his  day  for  a  long  and  bitter  political  controversy  with  Rud- 
diman  the  grammarian.  The  affair  of  the  censured  sermon  is  mentioned  in 
Mackenzie's  account  of  Home,  p.  12.  —  ED. 


192  THE  CENSURED  SERMON. 

of  this  sacrifice  to  peace,  the  zealots  of  the  Presbytery  still 
endeavored  to  delay  the  settlement  by  embarrassing  him  on 
what  is  called  the  extempore  trials  ;  but  as  he  was  an  able  and 
a  learned  young  man,  he  baffled  them  all  in  an  examination 
of  three  hours,  four  or  five  times  longer  than  usual,  when  he 
answered  all  their  questions,  and  refuted  all  their  cavils  in 
such  a  masterly  manner,  as  turned  the  chase  in  the  opinion  of 
the  bystanders,  and  made  the  Presbytery  appear  to  be  heret 
ical,  instead  of  the  person  accused. 

Among  the  accusers  of  Logan,  the  most  violent  were  Plen- 
derleath  of  Dalkeith,  Primrose  at  Crichton,  Smith  at  Cranston, 
Watson  at  Newbottle,  and  Walker  at  Temple.  The  first  had 
been  a  minion  of  Dr.  George  Wishart's,  and  set  out  as  one  of 
the  most  moral  preachers  at  the  very  top  of  the  Moderate 
interest,  giving  offence  by  his  quotations  from  Shaftesbury ; 
but  being  very  weak,  both  in  body  and  mind,  he  thought  to 
compensate  for  his  disability  by  affecting  a  change  of  senti 
ment,  and  coming  over  to  the  popular  side,  both  in  his  sermons 
and  his  votes  in  the  courts.  He  was  truly  but  a  poor  soul, 
and  might  have  been  pardoned,  but  for  his  hypocrisy.  Prim 
rose  was  a  shallow  pedant,  who  was  puffed  up  by  the  flattery 
of  his  brethren  to  think  himself  an  eminent  scholar  because 
he  was  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  system,  and  a  person 
of  a  high,  independent  mind  because  he  was  rich  and  could 
speak  impertinently  to  his  heritors,  and  build  a  manse  of  an 
uncommon  size  and  pay  for  the  overplus.  He  had  a  fluent 
elocution  in  the  dialect  of  Morayshire,  embellished  with 
English  of  his  own  invention  ;  but  with  all  this  he  had  no 
common  sense.  Smith  was  a  sly  northern,  seemingly  very 
temperate,  but  a  great  counsellor  of  his  neighbor  and  country 
man  Primrose.  Watson  was  a  dark  inquisitor,  of  some  parts. 
Walker  was  a  rank  enthusiast,  with  nothing  but  heat  without 
light.  John  Bonar  at  Cockpen,  though  of  the  High  party, 


DR.  BEATTIE.  193 

was  a  man  of  sense  —  an  excellent  preacher ;  he  was  tem 
perate  in  his  opposition.  Robin  Paton,  though  gentlemanly, 
was  feeble  in  church  courts.  His  father  was  just  dead,  so 
that  I  had  no  zealous  supporter  but  Rab  Simson  and  David 
Gilchrist  at  Newton.  On  those  inferior  characters  I  need  not 
dwell. 

Logan  was  settled  at  Ormiston  and  married,  not  three  years 
after  which  he  died  of  a  high  brain  fever.  John  Home  and  I 
felt  our  loss.  A  strong  proof  of  our  opinion  of  his  ability 
was,  that  a  very  short  time  before  his  death  we  had  prevailed 
with  him  to  make  David  Hume's  philosophical  works  his  par 
ticular  study,  and  to  refute  the  dangerous  parts  of  them,  —  a 
task  for  which  we  thought  him  fully  equal.  This  was  sixteen 
or  eighteen  years  before  Beattie  thought  of  it.  Dr.  Wight 
and  I  saw  him  [Beattie]  frequently  at  Aberdeen  in  1765  or 
1766,  when  he  opened  his  design  to  us,  from  which  we  en 
deavored  to  dissuade  him,  having  then  a  settled  opinion  that 
such  metaphysical  essays  and  treatises  —  as  they  were  seldom 
read,  certainly  never  understood,  but  by  the  few  whose  minds 
were  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  author  —  had  best  be  left 
without  the  celebrity  of  an  answer.  It  was  on  occasion  of 
this  trial  of  Logan  that  we  first  took  umbrage  at  Robert 
Dundas,  junior,  of  Arniston,  then  Solicitor-General,  who 
could  easily  have  drawn  off  the  Presbytery  of  Dalkeith  from 
their  illiberal  pursuit,  and  was  applied  to  for  that  purpose  by 
some  friends,  who  were  refused.  His  father,  the  President, 
was  by  this  time  laid  aside. 

It  was  in  the  year  1751  or  1752,  I  think,  that  a  few  of  us 
of  the  Moderate  party  were  for  two  or  three  days  united  in 
a  case  that  came  before  the  Synod  of  Lothian  in  May,  with 
Dr.  Alexander  Webster,  the  leader  of  the  high-flying  party. 
Webster,  with  a  few  more  of  his  brethren,  whereof  Drs. 
Jardine  and  Wallace  were  two,  had  objected  to  Mr.  John 
9  M 


194  DR.   WEBSTER. 

John  stone,  a  new  chaplain  of  the  Castle,  being  admitted  to  a 
seat  in.  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh.  They  were  defeated 
in  the  Presbytery  by  a  great  majority,  on  which  they  ap 
pealed  to  the  Synod,  when  a  few  of  us,  taking  part  with 
the  minority,  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  Webster  very 
closely. 

Our  conclusions  on  this  acquaintance  were  (and  we  never 
altered  them),  that  though  he  was  a  clever  fellow,  an  excellent 
and  ready  speaker,  fertile  in  expedients,  and  prompt  in  execu 
tion,  yet  he  had  by  no  means  a  leading  or  decisive  mind,  and 
consequently  was  unfit  to  be  the  head  of  a  party.  He  had  no 
scruples  ;  for,  with  a  little  temporary  heating,  he  seemed  to  be 
entirely  without  principle.  There  was  at  this  time  a  Mr. 
John  Hepburn,  minister  in  the  Old  Greyfriars,  who,  though 
he  never  appeared  to  take  any  share  in  ecclesiastical  affairs 
but  by  his  vote,  was  in  secret  Webster's  counsellor  and  di 
rector,  so  that  while  he  lived,  Webster  did  well  as  the  osten 
sible  head  of  his  party.  Mr.  Hepburn  was  grandfather  of 
the  present  Earl  of  Hyndford,  and  the  son  of  a  celebrated 
mountaineer  in  Galloway,  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Hepburn,  in 
Queen  Anne's  time.*  But  when  he  [Hepburn]  died  not  long 
after,  lie  [Webster]  fell  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Jardine,  who 
managed  him  with  great  dexterity,  for  he  allowed  him  to 
adhere  to  his  party,  but  restrained  him  from  going  too  far. 
As  Jardine  was  son-in-law  to  Provost  Drummond,  with  whom 
Webster  wished  to  be  well,  Jardine,  who  had  much  sagacity, 
with  great  versatility  of  genius,  and  a  talent  for  the  manage 
ment  of  men,  had  not  such  a  difficult  task  as  one  would  have 
imagined.  "Webster  had  published  a  satirical  sermon  against 

*  The  term  "mountaineer"  is  a  metonymy  for  hillman  or  Covenanter. 
Daniel  Carmichael  of  Mauldsley,  whose  son  Andrew  became  sixth  Earl  of 
Hyndford,  married  in  1742  Emilia,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Hepburn.  — 
Wood's  Peerage,  i.  759.  —  ED. 


DR.   WEBSTER.  195 

Sir  Robert  Walpole,  for  which  he  had  been  taken  to  task  in 
the  General  Assembly  by  the  Earl  of  Islay,  by  this  time  Duke 
of  Argyle,  and  of  great  political  power  in  Scotland.  Web 
ster,  in  case  of  accidents,  wished  to  have  a  friendly  mediator 
between  him  and  the  Duke.  This  is  the  true  key  to  all  his 
political  disingenuity. 

Webster  had  justly  obtained  much  respect  amongst  the 
clergy,  and  all  ranks,  indeed,  for  having  established  the 
Widows'  Fund  ;  for  though  Dr.  Wallace,  who  was  an  able 
mathematician,  had  made  the  calculations,  Webster  had  the 
merit  of  carrying  the  scheme  into  execution.  Having  married 
a  lady  of  fashion,  who  had  a  fortune  of  £  4,000  (an  estate  in 
those  days),  he  kept  better  company  than  most  of  the  clergy. 
His  appearance  of  great  strictness  in  religion,  to  which  he 
was  bred  under  his  father,  who  was  a  very  popular  minister 
of  the  Tolbooth  Church,  not  acting  in  restraint  of  his  convivial 
humor,  he  was  held  to  be  excellent  company,  even  by  those 
of  dissolute  manners ;  while,  being  a  five-bottle  man,  he  could 
lay  them  all  under  the  table.  This  had  [brought]  on  him  the 
nickname  of  Dr.  Bonum  Magnum  in  the  time  of  faction  ;  but 
never  being  indecently  the  worse  of  liquor,  and  a  love  of  claret 
to  any  degree  not  being  reckoned  in  those  days  a  sin  in  Scot 
land,  all  his  excesses  were  pardoned.* 

When  it  was  discovered  that  Jardine  led  him,  his  party 
became  jealous  ;  and  it  was  no  wonder,  for  he  used  to  un- 

*  Dr.  Alexander  Webster  and  Dr.  Robert  Wallace  were  both  men  of  much 
celebrity  in  their  day  as  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Of  Web 
ster's  very  peculiar  characteristics  there  is  perhaps  a  fuller  account  in  this 
work  than  anywhere  else.  Wallace,  who  was  a  man  of  less  notable  pecu 
liarities,  wrote  several  books,  the  most  remarkable  of  which  is  A  Disserta 
tion  on  the  Numbers  of  Mankind  in  Ancient  and  Modern  Times,  which,  along 
with  Hume's  Essay  on  the  populcusness  of  ancient  nations,  contributed  some 
ideas  subsequently  brought  to  bear  on  the  great  discussion  on  population 
inaugurated  by  Malthus.  —  ED. 


196  DR.   WEBSTER. 

dermine  them  by  his  speeches,  and  vote  with  them  to  save 
appearances.  But  the  truly  upright  and  honorable  men 
among  them,  such  as  Drs.  Erskine  and  Hunter,  &c.,  could 
not  think  of  parting  with  his  abilities,  which,  both  in  the  pul 
pit  and  the  Assembly,  gave  some  lustre  to  their  party.  He 
could  pass  at  once  from  the  most  unbounded  jollity  to  the  most 
fervent  devotion  ;  yet  I  believe  that  his  hypocrisy  was  no  more 
than  habit  grounded  merely  on  temper,  and  that  his  aptness 
to  pray  was  as  easy  and  natural  to  him  as  to  drink  a  convivial 
glass.  His  familiar  saying,  however,  that  it  was  his  lot  to 
drink  with  gentlemen  and  to  vote  with  fools,  made  too  full  a 
discovery  of  the  laxity  of  his  mind.  Indeed,  he  lived  too 
long  to  preserve  any  respect ;  for  in  his  latter  years  his  sole 
object  seemed  to  be  where  to  find  means  of  inebriety,  which 
he  at  last  too  often  effected,  for  his  constitution  having  lost  its 
vigor,  he  was  sent  home  almost  every  evening  like  other 
drunkards  who  could  not  boast  of  strength.  Besides  the 
£  4,000  he  got  with  his  lady,  he  spent  £  6,000  more,  which 
was  left  him  by  Miss  Hunter,  one  of  his  pious  disciples, 
which  legacy  did  not  raise  his  character.  In  aid  of  his  for 
tune,  when  it  was  nearly  drained,  he  was  appointed  Collector 
of  the  Widows'  Fund  when  a  Mr.  Stewart  died,  who  was 
the  first,  and  likewise  obtained  one  of  the  deaneries  from  the 
Crown.  When  the  New  Town  of  Edinburgh  came  to  be 
planned  out,  he  was  employed  by  the  magistrates,  which  grati 
fied  his  two  strongest  desires,  —  his  love  of  business  and  of 
conviviality,  in  both  of  which  he  excelled.  The  business  was 
all  done  in  the  tavern,  where  there  was  a  daily  dinner,  which 
cost  the  town  in  the  course  of  the  year  £  500,  the  whole  of  an 
additional  revenue  which  had  been  discovered  a  little  while 
before  by  Buchan,  the  Town's  Chamberlain.  He  had  done 
many  private  and  public  injuries  to  me  in  spite  of  the  support 
I  and  my  friends  had  given  him  in  his  cause  before  the  Synod 


DR.  WEBSTER.  197 

in  May,  1752,  for  which  I  did  not  spare  him  when  I  had  an 
opportunity,  by  treating  him  with  that  rough  raillery  which 
the  fashion  of  the  times  authorized,  which  he  bore  with  in 
imitable  patience  ;  and  when  I  rose  into  some  consideration, 
he  rather  courted  than  shunned  my  company,  with  the  perfect 
knowledge  of  what  I  thought  of  him. 

As  John  Home  and  I  had  made  speeches  in  his  support  at 
the  Synod,  he  thought  he  could  do  no  less  than  invite  us  to 
dinner  on  the  day  after :  we  went  accordingly,  and  were  well 
enough  received  by  him,  while  his  lady  treated  us  not  only 
with  neglect,  but  even  with  rudeness ;  while  she  caressed  with 
the  utmost  kindness  Adams  of  Falkirk,  the  very  person  who, 
by  disobeying  the  Assembly  and  escaping  unhurt  in  1751, 
drew  the  thunder  of  the  Church  on  Gillespie  the  following 
year. 

Another  instance  of  Webster's  hostility  to  me  happened 
some  time  afterwards.  His  colleague,  Mr.  William  Gusthart, 
who  was  a  very  old  man,  and  lived  for  many  summers  in  my 
parish,  and  at  last  the  whole  year  round,  engaged  me  to 
preach  for  him  in  the  Tolbooth  Church  one  Sunday  afternoon. 
I  was  averse  to  this  service,  as  I  knew  I  would  not  be  ac 
ceptable  in  that  congregation.  But  being  urged  by  the  old 
man  and  his  family,  I  agreed,  and  went  to  town,  and  preached 
to  a  very  thin  audience.  I  was  afterwards  certainly  informed 
that  Webster  had  sent  round  to  many  of  his  principal  families, 
warning  them  that  I  was  to  do  duty  for  his  colleague,  and 
hoping  that  they  would  not  give  countenance  to  a  person  who 
had  attended  the  theatre.  This,  I  think,  was  in  1759,  two 
years  after  I  had  foiled  the  high  party  in  the  General  Assem 
bly.  This  I  considered  as  most  malicious  ;  and  with  this  I 
frequently  taxed  him  in  very  plain  terms  indeed.  There  were 
a  few  of  us  who,  besides  the  levity  of  youth  and  the  natural 
freedom  of  our  manners,  had  an  express  design  to  throw  con- 


108  DR.   WEBSTER. 

tempt  on  that  vile  species  of  hypocrisy  which  magnified  an  in 
decorum  into  a  crime,  and  gave  an  air  of  false  sanctimony  and 
Jesuitism  to  the  greatest  part  of  the  clergy,  and  was  thereby 
pernicious  to  rational  religion.  In  this  plan  we  succeeded,  for 
in  the  midst  of  our  freedom  having  preserved  respect  and  ob 
tained  a  leading  in  the  Church,  we  freed  the  clergy  from  many 
unreasonable  and  hypocritical  restraints. 

I  have  dwelt  longer  on  Dr.  Webster  than  on  any  other  per 
son,  because  such  characters  are  extremely  pernicious,  as  they 
hold  up  an  example  to  unprincipled  youth  how  far  they  may 
play  fast  and  loose  with  professed  principles  without  being  en 
tirely  undone ;  and  how  far  they  may  proceed  in  dissipation 
of  manner  without  entirely  forfeiting  the  public  good  opinion. 
But  let  the  young  clergy  observe,  that  very  few  indeed  are 
capable  of  exhibiting  for  their  protection  such  useful  talents, 
or  of  displaying  such  agreeable  manners  as  Dr.  Webster  did 
in  compensation  for  his  faults. 

In  1751  the  schoolmaster  of  Musselburgh  died,  a  Mr. 
Munro,  who  had  only  seven  scholars  and  one  boarder,  he  and 
his  wife  had  become  so  unpopular.  As  the  magistrates  of 
Musselburgh  came  in  place  of  the  heritors  as  patrons  of  the 
school,  by  a  transaction  with  them  about  the  mortcloths,  the 
emoluments  of  which  the  heritors  gave  up  on  the  town's  agree 
ing  to  pay  the  salary,  I  took  the  opportunity  that  this  gave  me 
as  joint  patron  to  persuade  them,  as  their  school  had  fallen  so 
low,  to  fill  it  up  by  a  comparative  trial  before  a  committee  of 
Presbytery,  with  Sir  David  Dalrymple  and  Dr.  Blair  as  as 
sessors,  when  a  Mr.  JefFry,  from  the  Merse,  showed  so  much 
superiority  that  he  was  unanimously  elected.  lie  soon  raised 
the  school  to  some  eminence,  and  got  about  twenty-five  or 
thirty  boarders  the  second  year.  When  he  died,  eight  or  ten 
years  afterwards,  his  daughters,  by  rny  advice,  took  up  the 
first  female  boarding-school  that  ever  was  there,  which  has 


REVOLUTION  IN  CHURCH  POLITY.  199 

been  kept  up  with  success  ever  since  ;  and  such  has  been  the 
encouragement  that  two  others  have  been  well  supported  also. 
On  Jeffry's  death,  John  Murray  succeeded  him,  who  did  well 
also.  When  he  grew  old,  I  got  him  to  resign  on  a  pension, 
and  had  John  Taylor  to  succeed  him,  who  has  surpassed  them 
all,  having  got  as  far  as  seventy  boarders,  his  wife  being  the 
best  qualified  of  any  person  I  ever  knew  in  her  station. 

It  was  in  this  year,  1751,  the  foundation  was  laid  for  the 
restoration  of  the  discipline  of  the  Church  the  next  year,  in 
which  Dr.  Robertson,  John  Home,  and  I  had  such  an  active 
hand.  Mr.  Adams,  at  Falkirk,  had  disobeyed  a  sentence  of 
the  General  Assembly,  appointing  the  Presbytery  of  Linlith- 
gow  to  settle  Mr.  Watson,  minister  of  the  parish  of  Torphi- 
chen,  to  which  he  had  been  presented,  and  for  which,  after 
trial,  he  was  found  fully  qualified.  Mr.  Adams  had  been  ap 
pointed  nominatim  by  the  Act  of  Assembly  to  preside  at  this 
ordination.  This  was  the  second  year  this  Presbytery  had 
disobeyed,  because  there  was  an  opposition  in  the  parish. 
This  had  happened  before,  and  the  plea  of  conscience  had 
always  brought  off  the  disobedient.  The  Assembly  had  fallen 
on  a  wretched  expedient  to  settle  presentees  who  were  in  this 
state.  They  appointed  a  committee  of  their  number,  who  had 
no  scruple  to  obey  the  sentence  of  the  Supreme  Court,  to  go 
to  the  parish  on  a  certain  day  and  ordain  the  presentee.  This 
had  been  done  in  several  instances  with  the  very  worst  effect ; 
for  the  presbyteries  having  preserved  their  own  popularity  by 
their  resistance,  they  had  no  interest  in  reconciling  the  minds 
of  the  people  to  their  new  pastor ;  and  accordingly,  for  most 
part,  cherished  their  prejudices,  and  left  the  unfortunate  young 
man  to  fight  his  way  without  help  in  the  best  manner  he  could. 
This  was  a  great  abuse,  and  was  likely  to  destroy  the  subor 
dination  of  church  courts,  which  of  old  had  been  the  great 
boast  of  our  Presbyterian  form  of  government,  and  had  been 


200  REVOLUTION  IN  CHURCH  POLITY. 

very  complete  and  perfect  in  early  times.  The  departure 
from  that  strictness  of  discipline,  and  the  adoption  of  expedi 
ents  in  judicial  cases,  was  of  very  recent  growth,  and  was 
chiefly  owing  to  the  struggle  against  patronages  after  their 
restoration  in  the  10th  of  Queen  Anne ;  so  that  the  Assembly 
had  only  to  recur  to  her  first  principles  and  practice  to  restore 
her  lost  authority.  So  far  was  it  from  being  true  that  Dr. 
Robertson  was  the  inventor  of  this  system,  as  was  afterwards 
believed,  and  as  the  strain  of  Dugald  Stewart's  Life  of  Robert 
son  has  a  tendency  to  support. 

The  rise  of  the  attempt  to  revive  the  ancient  discipline  in 
this  Assembly  was  as  follows.  Some  friends  and  companions 
having  been  well  informed  that  a  great  majority  of  the  Gen 
eral  Assembly  1751  were  certainly  to  let  Mr.  Adams  of  Fal- 
kirk,  the  disobedient  brother,  escape  with  a  very  slight  censure, 
a  select  company  of  fifteen  were  called  together  in  a  tavern,  a 
night  or  two  before  the  case  was  to  be  debated  in  the  Assem 
bly,  to  consult  what  was  to  be  done.  There  met  accordingly 
in  the  tavern  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lord  Provost  Drum- 
mond ;  the  Honorable  William  Master  of  Ross  ;  Mr.  Gilbert 
Elliot,  junior,  of  Minto ;  Mr.  Andrew  Pringle,  advocate ; 
Messrs.  Jardine,  Blair,  Robertson,  John  Home,  Adam  Dick- 
son  of  Dunse,  George  Logan  of  Ormiston,  Alexander  Carlyle 
of  Inveresk,  and  as  many  more  as  made  fifteen,  two  of  whom 
—  viz.  Logan  and  Carlyle  —  were  not  members  of  Assembly. 
The  business  was  talked  over,  and  having  the  advice  of  those 
two  able  lawyers,  Messrs.  Elliot  and  Pringle,  we  were  con 
firmed  in  our  opinion  that  it  was  necessary  to  use  every  means 
in  our  power  to  restore  the  authority  of  the  Church,  otherwise 
her  government  would  be  degraded,  and  everything  depending 
on  her  authority  would  fall  into  confusion ;  and  though  suc 
cess  was  not  expected  at  this  Assembly,  as  we  knew  that  the 
judges,  and  many  other  respectable  elders,  besides  the  op- 


REVOLUTION  IN  CHURCH  POLITY.  201 

posite  party  of  the  clergy,  were  resolved  to  let  Mr.  Adams 
and  the  disobedient  Presbytery  of  Linlithgow  escape  with  a 
very  slight  censure  (an  admonition  only),  yet  we  believe  that, 
by  keeping  the  object  in  view,  good  sense  would  prevail  at 
last,  and  order  be  restored.  We  did  not  propose  deposition, 
but  only  suspension  for  six  months,  which,  we  thought,  was 
meeting  the  opposite  party  half-way.  John  Home  agreed  to 
make  the  motion,  and  Robertson  to  second  him.  Neither  of 
them  had  ever  spoken  in  the  Assembly  till  then,  and  it  was 
till  that  period  unusual  for  young  men  to  begin  a  debate. 
They  plucked  up  spirit,  however,  and  performed  their  promise, 
and  were  ably  supported  by  Messrs.  Pringle  and  Elliot,  and 
one  or  two  more  of  those  who  had  engaged  with  them.  When 
they  came  to  vote,  however,  two  of  the  eighteen  lost  heart, 
and  could  not  vote  in  opposition  to  all  the  great  men  in  the 
Assembly.  Those  two  were  Messrs.  John  Jardine  and  Hew 
Blair,  who  soon  repented  of  their  cowardice,  and  joined 
heartily  in  the  dissent  from  a  sentence  of  the  Commission  in 
March,  1752,  which  brought  on  the  deposition  of  Gillespie, 
and  re-established  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Adam  Dick- 
son  of  Dunse,  who  had  been  ill-treated  by  John  Home's 
friends  in  that  Presbytery  when  he  was  presentee  to  that 
parish,  was  the  first  who  voted  on  our  side.  Home  made 
a  spirited  oration,  though  not  a  business  speech,  which  tal 
ent  he  never  attained.  Robertson  followed  him,  and  not 
only  gained  the  attention  of  the  Assembly,  but  drew  the 
praise  of  the  best  judges,  particularly  of  the  Lord  Presi 
dent  Dundas,  who  I  overheard  say  that  Robertson  was  an 
admirable  speaker,  and  would  soon  become  a  leader  in  the 
church  courts. 

Although  the   associated  members  lost  the  question  by  a 
very  great  majority,  yet  the  speeches  made  on  that  occasion 
had  thoroughly  convinced  many  of  the  senior  members,  who, 
9* 


202  REVOLUTION  IN  CHURCH  POLITY. 

though  they  persisted  in  their  purpose  of  screening  Adams, 
yet  laid  to  heart  what  they  heard,  and  were  prepared  to  fol 
low  a  very  different  course  with  the  next  offender.  Adams's 
own  speech,  and  those  of  his  apologists,  had  an  equal  effect 
with  those  on  the  other  side  in  bringing  about  this  revolution 
on  the  minds  of  sensible  men,  for  the  plea  of  conscience  was 
their  only  ground,  which  the  more  it  was  urged  appeared  the 
more  absurd  when  applied  to  the  conduct  of  subordinate  judi- 
catories  in  an  Established  Church. 

This  occasional  union  of  some  of  the  young  clergymen  with 
the  young  lawyers  and  other  elders  of  rank  had  another  happy 
effect,  for  it  made  them  well  acquainted  with  each  other.  Be 
sides  casual  meetings,  they  had  two  nights  set  apart  during 
every  Assembly,  when  Messrs.  Ross,  Elliot,  and  Pringle,  with 
additional  young  elders  as  they  came  up,  supped  together,  and 
conferred  about  the  business  with  their  friends  of  the  Assem 
bly  1752,  and  whoever  they  thought  were  fit  associates.  Thus 
was  anticipated  what  took  place  on  a  larger  scale,  a  few  years 
afterwards,  by  the  institution  of  the  Select  Society.  Till  this 
period  the  clergy  of  Scotland,  from  the  Revolution  downwards, 
had  in  general  been  little  thought  of,  and  seldom  admitted  into 
liberal  society,  one  cause  of  which  was,  that  in  those  days  a 
clergyman  was  thought  profane  who  affected  the  manners  of 
gentlemen,  or  was  much  seen  in  their  company.  The  sudden 
call  for  young  men  to  fill  up  vacancies  at  the  Revolution, 
obliged  the  Church  to  take  their  entrants  from  the  lower 
ranks,  who  had  but  a  mean  education.  It  must  be  observed, 
too,  that  when  Presbytery  was  re-established  in  Scotland  at 
the  Revolution,  after  the  reign  of  Episcopacy  for  twenty-nine 
years,  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  people  of  the  country,  and 
most  part  of  the  gentry,  were  Episcopals ;  the  restoration  of 
Presbytery  by  King  William  being  chiefly  owing  to  the  Duke 
of  Argyle,  Marchmont,  Stair,  and  other  leading  nobles  who 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADEES.  203 

had  suffered  under  Charles  and  James,  and  who  had  promoted 
the  Revolution  with  all  their  interest  and  power. 

As  it  was  about  this  period  that  the  General  Assembly  be 
came  a  theatre  for  young  lawyers  to  display  their  eloquence 
and  exercise  their  talents,  I  shall  mention  the  impression  which 
some  of  them  made  on  me  in  my  early  days.  The  Lord 
President  Arniston,  —  the  father  of  a  second  President  of  the 
same  name,  Robert  Dundas,  and  of  Lord  Viscount  Melville, 
by  different  wives,  —  had  been  King's  Advocate  in  the  year 
1720,  which  he  had  lost  in  1725,  by  his  opposition  to  Sir 
Robert  Walpole  and  Lord  Islay.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest 
lawyers  this  country  ever  produced,  and  a  man  of  a  high, 
independent  spirit.  His  appearance  was  against  him,  for  he 
was  ill-looking,  with  a  large  nose  and  small,  ferret  eyes,  round 
shoulders,  a  harsh,  croaking  voice,  and  altogether  unprepos 
sessing  ;  yet  by  the  time  he  had  uttered  three  sentences,  he 
raised  attention,  and  went  on  with  a  torrent  of  good  sense  and 
clear  reasoning  that  made  one  totally  forget  the  first  impres 
sion.  At  this  Assembly  he  did  not  speak,  and  soon  after  fell 
into  a  debility  of  mind  and  body,  which  continued  to  1754, 
when  he  died.  I  never  happened  to  be  in  company  with  this 
Lord  President  but  once,  which  was  at  a  meeting  of  Presby 
tery  for  dividing  the  church  at  Newbottle.  The  Presbytery 
and  the  heritors  who  attended  were  quite  puzzled  how  to 
proceed  in  the  business,  and  Arniston,  who  was  an  heritor, 
was  late  in  coming.  But  he  had  no  sooner  appeared  than  he 
undid  all  that  we  had  been  trying  to  do,  and  having  put  the 
meeting  on  a  right  plan,  extricated  and  settled  the  business  in 
a  short  time.  To  the  superiority  of  his  mind  he  added  ex 
perience  in  that  sort  of  business.  There  was  a  dinner  pro 
vided  for  us  in  the  Marquis  [of  Lothian's]  house,  where 
Sandy  M'Millan,  TV.  S.,  presided  in  the  absence  of  the  Mar 
quis,  when  I  was  quite  delighted  with  the  President's  brilliant 


204  ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADERS. 

parts  and  fine  convivial  spirit.  I  was  earnestly  invited  to  go 
to  him  at  Arniston,  where  I  should  probably  have  been  very 
often,  had  not  this  happened  a  very  short  while,  not  above  a 
month  or  two,  before  he  fell  into  debility  of  mind,  and  was 
shut  up.  Hew  Dalrymple,  Lord  Drummore,  who  was  much 
inferior  to  him  in  talents,  was  a  very  popular  speaker,  though 
neither  an  orator  nor  an  acute  reasoner.  He  was  the  lay  lead 
er  of  the  Moderate  party ;  and  Arniston  was  inclined  to  favor 
the  other  side,  though  he  could  not  follow  them  in  their  settled 
opposition  to  the  law  of  patronage.  Drummore  devoted  him 
self  during  the  Assembly  to  the  company  of  the  clergy,  and 
had  always  two  or  three  elders  who  followed  him  to  the  tavern, 
such  as  Sir  James  Colquhoun,  Colin  Campbell,  Commissioner 
of  Customs,  &c.  Drummore's  speaking  was  not  distinguished 
for  anything  but  ease  and  popularity,  and  he  was  so  deservedly 
a  favorite  with  the  clergy,  that,  taking  up  the  common-sense 
of  the  business,  or  judging  from  what  he  heard  in  conversation 
the  day  before,  when  dining  with  the  clergy  of  his  own  side, 
h6  usually  made  a  speech  in  every  cause,  which  generally 
seemed  to  sway  the  Assembly,  though  there  was  not  much 
argument.  He  used  to  nod  to  Arniston  with  an  air  of  triumph 
(for  they  were  relations,  and  very  good  friends),  as  much  as  to 
say,  "Take  you  that,  Robin." 

I  heard  Lord  Islay  once  speak  in  the  Assembly,  which  was 
to  correct  the  petulance  of  Alexander  Webster,  which  he  did 
with  dignity  and  force,  but  was  in  the  wrong  to  commit  him 
self  with  a  light  horseman  who  had  nothing  to  lose.  I  heard 
Lord  Marchmont  likewise  speak  on  the  motion  for  an  aug 
mentation,  which  he  did  with  much  elegance  and  a  flowery 
elocution,  but  entirely  without  sense  or  propriety,  insomuch 
that  he  by  his  speech  forfeited  the  good  opinion  of  the  clergy, 
who  had  been  prepossessed  in  his  favor  by  Pope's  panegyrical 
line  "  Polwarth  is  a  slave."  Pope,  according  to  his  manner, 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADERS.  205 

> 

intended  this  as  a  panegyric  on  his  patriotism  and  indepen 
dence  ;  but  this  was  the  voice  of  party,  for  Marchmont  was 
in  reality  as  much  a  slave  of  the  Court  as  any  man  of  his 
time. 

Mr.  Gilbert  Elliot  showed  himself  in  the  Assembly  equal 
to  the  station  to  which  he  afterwards  attained  as  a  statesman, 
when  Sir  Gilbert,  by  his  superior  manner  of  speaking.  But 
Andrew  Pringle,  Solicitor-General,  and  afterwards  Lord 
Aylmer,  excelled  all  the  laymen  of  that  period  for  genuine 
argument  and  eloquence  ;  and  when  on  the  bench,  he  de 
livered  his  opinion  with  more  dignity,  clearness,  and  precision 
than  any  judge  I  ever  heard  either  in  Scotland  or  England. 
It  was  a  great  loss  to  this  country  that  he  did  not  live  to  fill 
the  President's  chair,  and  indeed  had  not  health  to  go  through 
the  labor  of  it,  otherwise  it  was  believed  that  he  would  have 
set  an  example  of  elegance  and  dignity  in  our  law  proceedings 
that  could  not  easily  have  been  forgotten.  In  those  respects 
the  bench  has  been  very  unlucky,  for  however  great  lawyers 
or  impartial  judges  the  succeeding  Presidents  may  have  been, 
in  the  qualities  I  have  mentioned  they  have  all  been  inferior 
even  to  the  first  President  Arniston,  who  could  not  be  called  an 
elegant  speaker,  with  all  his  other  great  qualities.  In  those 
days  there  were  very  few  good  speakers  among  the  clergy,  as  no 
young  men  almost  ever  ventured  to  speak  but  when  at  the  bar 
till  after  1752.  The  custom  invariably  was  for  the  Moderator 
to  call  for  the  opinion  of  two  or  three  of  the  old  men  at  the 
green  table  who  were  nearest  him,  and  after  them  one  or  two 
of  the  judges,  or  the  King's  Advocate  and  Solicitor,  who  were 
generally  all  of  a  side,  and  were  very  seldom  opposed  or 
answered  but  by  James  Lindsay  and  one  or  two  of  his  fol 
lowers.  With  respect  to  Lindsay,  I  have  to  add  that  he  was 
a  fine,  brisk,  gentleman-like  man,  who  had  a  good  manner  of 
speaking,  but,  being  very  unlearned,  could  only  pursue  a 


206  ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADERS. 

• 

single  track.  He  set  out  on  the  popular  side  in  opposition  to 
patronage,  but  many  of  his  private  friends  being  on  the  other 
side,  and  Church  preferment  running  chiefly  in  that  direction, 
he  came  for  two  or  three  years  over  to  them ;  but  on  Drys- 
dale's  getting  the  deanery  during  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham's 
administration,  he  took  pet  and  returned  to  his  old  party.  The 
ground  of  his  patriotism  was  thus  unveiled,  and  he  was  no 
longer  of  any  consequence,  though  he  thought  he  could  sway 
the  burgh  of  Lochmaben,  where  he  was  minister  at  that  time. 
He  was  a  very  pleasant  companion,  but  jealous  and  difficult, 
and  too  severe  a  rallier. 

The  clergyman  of  this  period  who  far  outshone  the  rest  in 
eloquence  was  Principal  Tullidelph,  of  St.  Andrews.  He  had 
fallen  into  bad  health  or  low  spirits  before  my  time,  and  sel 
dom  appeared  in  the  Assembly  ;  but  when  he  did,  he  far  ex 
celled  every  other  speaker.  I  am  not  certain  if  even  Lord 
Chatham  in  his  glory  had  more  dignity  of  manner  or  more 
command  of  his  audience  than  he  had.  I  am  certain  he  had 
not  so  much  argument,  nor  such  a  convincing  force  of  reason 
ing.  Tullidelph  was  tall  and  thin  like  Pitt,  with  a  manly  and 
interesting  aspect ;  and  rising  slowly,  and  beginning  in  a'  very 
low  tone,  he  soon  swelled  into  an  irresistible  torrent  of  eloquence, 
and,  in  my  opinion,  was  the  most  powerful  speaker  ever  I 
heard.  And  yet  this  great  man  was  overcome  and  humbled 
by  the  buffoonery  of  a  man  much  his  inferior  in  everything 
but  learning.  This  was  John  Chalmers,  minister  of  Elie.* 
Tullidelph  soon  gained  the  leading  of  his  university,  the  Pres 
bytery  of  St.  Andrews,  and  the  Synod  of  Fife  ;  but  being  of 
a  haughty  and  overbearing  disposition  (like  Chatham),  he  soon 
disgusted  his  colleagues  both  in  the  University  and  Presby 
tery,  of  which  the  younger  brethren  made  a  cabal  against  him, 

*  The  grand-uncle  of  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers.     See  HANNA'S  Memoirs, 
vol.  i.  p.  2. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADERS.  207 

in  which  Chalmers  was  the  principal  agent.  Though  he  was 
far  behind  Tullidelph  in  eloquence,  he  was  superior  to  him  in 
some  things,  especially  in  ancient  learning.  But  his  chief 
mode  of  attack  was  by  a  species  of  buffoonery,  which  totally 
unhinged  the  Principal,  who  was  very  proud,  and  indignant 
of  opposition.  Chalmers  watched  his  arguments,  and  by  turn 
ing  them  all  into  ridicule,  and  showing  that  they  proved  the 
very  reverse  of  what  he  intended,  he  put  Tullidelph  in  such  a 
rage  as  totally  disabled  him,  and  made  him  in  a  short  time 
abs(  himself  both  from  Presbytery  and  Synod.  He  at  last 
became  hypochondriac,  sat  up  all  night  writing  a  dull  commen 
tary  on  the  Gospels,  and  lay  in  bed  all  day. 

After  this  period,  however,  when  the  young  clergy  distin 
guished  themselves  —  and  particularly  after  the  Assembly 
1753,  when,  Alexander  Webster  being  Moderator,  he  on  the 
very  first  question  dropped  the  old  mode  of  calling  upon  the 
senior  members  —  the  young  clergy  began  to  feel  their  own 
importance  in  debate,  and  have  ever  since  continued  to  distin 
guish  themselves,  and  have  swayed  the  decision  of  the  Assem 
bly  ;  so  that  the  supreme  ecclesiastical  court  has  long  been  a 
school  of  eloquence  for  the  clergy,  as  well  as  a  theatre  for  the 
lawyers  to  display  their  talents. 

It  was  in  the  Assembly  1752  that  the  authority  of  the 
Church  was  restored  by  the  deposition  of  Gillespie.  Robert 
son  and  John  Home,  having  been  dissenters,  with  some  others, 
from  a  sentence  of  the  Commission  in  March  that  year  in  the 
affair  of  the  settlement  of  Inverkeithing,  similar  to  that  of 
Torphichen  in  1751,  had  entered  a  complaint  against  the  Com 
mission,  which  gave  them  an  opportunity  of  appearing  and 
pleading  at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly,  which  they  did  with 
spirit  and  eloquence.  The  minds  of  the  leaders  of  the  As 
sembly  having  been  now  totally  changed,  a  vigorous  measure 
was  adopted  by  a  great  majority.  The  Presbytery  of  Dun- 


208  ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADEES. 

fermline  were  brought  before  the  Assembly,  and  peremptorily 
ordered  to  admit  the  candidate  three  days  after,  and  report  to 
the  Assembly  on  the  following  Friday.  They  disobeyed,  and 
Mr.  Gillespie  was  deposed.  I  was  for  the  first  time  a  mem 
ber,  with  my  friend  and  co-presbyter  George  Logan.  It  was 
thought  proper  that,  on  the  first  day's  debate,  the  speaking 
should  be  left  to  the  senior  clergy  and  the  lay  members.  But 
when,  at  a  general  meeting  of  the  party  after  Gillespie  was 
deposed,  it  was  moved  that  it  would  be  proper  to  propose  next 
day  that  the  Assembly  should  proceed  to  depose  one  or  two 
more  of  the  offending  brethren,  Mr.  Alexander  Gordon  of 
Kintore,  and  George  Logan  and  I,  were  pointed  out  as  proper 
persons  to  make  and  second  the  motion.  I  accordingly  began, 
and  was  seconded  by  Gordon  in  very  vigorous  speeches,  which 
occasioned  a  great  alarm  on  the  other  side,  as  if  we  were  de 
termined  to  get  rid  of  the  whole  Presbytery  ;  but  this  was 
only  in  terror  em,  for  by  concert  one  of  our  senior  brethren, 
with  much  commendation  of  the  two  young  men,  calmly  pro 
posed  that  the  Assembly  for  this  time  should  rest  contented 
with  what  they  had  done,  and  wait  the  effects  of  the  example 
that  had  been  set.  After  some  debate  this  was  carried.  Lo 
gan  not  having  done  his  part,  I  asked  him  why  he  had  been 
silent ;  he  answered  that  Gordon  and  I  had  spoken  in  such  a 
superior  manner  that  he  thought  he  would  appear  inferior,  and 
had  not  the  courage  to  rise.  As  it  was  the  first  time  I  had 
ever  opened  my  mouth  in  the  Assembly  —  for  I  was  not  a 
member  till  that  year  —  I  was  encouraged  to  go  on  by  that 
reply  from  my  friend.  At  the  same  time,  I  must  observe  that 
many  a  time,  as  in  this  case,  the  better  man  is  dazzled  and 
silenced  for  life,  perhaps,  by  the  more  forward  temper  and 
brilliant  appearances  of  his  companions.  My  admiration  of 
Robertson  and  Hume,  with  whom  I  was  daily  versant  at 
that  time,  and  who  communicated  their  writings  to  me,  made 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEADERS.  209 

me  imagine  that  I  was  incapable  of  writing  anything  but  ser 
mons,  insomuch  that  till  the  year  1751  I  wrote  nothing  else 
except  some  juvenile  poems.  Dr.  Patrick  Cuming  was  at  this 
time  at  the  head  of  the  Moderate  interest ;  and  had  his  tem 
per  been  equal  to  his  talents,  might  have  kept  it  long  ;  for  he 
had  both  learning  and  sagacity,  and  very  agreeable  conversa 
tion,  with  a  constitution  able  to  bear  the  conviviality  of  the 
times. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

1753-1756:    AGE,   31-34. 

SKETCHES  OF  SOCIETY.  —  LORD  MILTON.  —  LADY  HERVEY.  —  SMOL 
LETT'S  VISIT.  —  CULLEN'S  MIMICRIES.  —  NOTICES  AND  ANECDOTES  OF 
DAVID  HUME,  ADAM  SMITH,  ADAM  FERGUSON,  DR.  ROBERTSON,  DR. 
BLAIR,  JOHN  HOME.  —  FOUNDATION  OF  THE  SELECT  SOCIETY.  —  COM 
PLETION  OF  THE  TRAGEDY  OF  "DOUGLAS."  —  ADVENTURES  OF  ITS 
AUTHOR  AND  HIS  FRIENDS  IN  CONVEYING  IT  TO  LONDON.  —  ADMIRAL 
BYNG.  —  THE  CARRIERS'  INN. 

IT  was  this  year  [1753]  that  the  1st  Regiment  of  dragoons 
lay  at  Musselburgh,  with  some  of  the  officers  of  which  I  was 
very  intimate,  particularly  with  Charles  Lyon,  the  surgeon, 
who  was  a  very  sensible,  handsome,  and  agreeable  young  man. 
He  afterwards  became  an  officer,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  a 
lieutenant-general.  He  was  at  York  when  Captain  Burton 
and  Wind  fought  a  duel,  in  which  the  first  was  run  through 
the  lungs,  and  recovered.  Lyon  wrote  to  me  twice  a  week, 
as  I  had  a  great  regard  for  Burton,  and  had  foretold  the  duel. 
He  was  afterwards  well  known  by  the  name  of  General  Philip- 
son.  The  celebrated  Major  Johnstone,  so  much  admired  for 
his  beauty  and  for  his  many  duels,  was  of  this  regiment,  and 
one  of  the  best-natured  men  in  the  intercourse  of  friends  that 
ever  I  met  with.  George  II.  had  put  a  cross  at  his  name  on 
his  behaving  very  insolently  at  one  of  the  theatres  to  a  coun 
try  gentleman,  and  afterwards  wounding  him  in  a  duel.  In 
George  III.'s  time  John  Home  got  the  star  taken  off,  and 
he  was  promoted.  He  was  of  the  family  of  Hilton,  which  is 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  211 

descended  from  that  of  Westerhall ;  and  Hew  Bannatine  had 
been  his  travelling  tutor  when  abroad. 

The  parish  of  Inveresk  this  year  lost  a  very  agreeable 
member ;  for  the  estate  of  Carberry  being  sold  to  a  Mr.  Ful- 
lerton,  who  came  to  live  at  it,  Lord  Elchies  left  the  place  and 
went  to  Inch,  where  he  died  soon  after.  His  place  was  in 
some  respects  filled  by  his  son,  Mr.  John  Grant,  afterwards 
Baron  Grant,  who  bought  Castle  Steads.  Mr.  Grant  was  a 
worthy  good  man,  of  considerable  parts,  but  of  a  weak,  whimsi 
cal  mind.  He  was  at  this  time  chief  commissioner  for  the 
Duke  of  Buccleuch,  and  much  improved  the  family  gallery  in 
the  church,  where  he  attended  regularly.  He  married  Miss 
Fletcher,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Lord 'Milton,  who  received 
the  marriage  company  at  Carberry.  I  was  frequently  asked 
to  dine  while  she  stayed  there,  and  by  that  means  became  well 
acquainted  with  the  Fletchers,  whom  I  had  not  visited  before, 
for  their  house  was  not  in  my  parish,  and  I  was  not  forward 
in  pushing  myself  into  acquaintance  elsewhere  without  some 
proper  introduction.  From  this  period  I  became  intimate 
with  that  family,  of  which  Lord  Milton  himself  and  his  young 
est  daughter  Betty,  afterwards  Mrs.  "Wedderburn  of  Gosford, 
were  my  much  valued  frienSs.  Lord  Milton  was  nephew  of 
the  famous  patriot,  Andrew  Fletcher  of  Saltoun,  and  the  suc 
cessor  to  his  estate.  He  had  been  Lord  Justice-Clerk  and 
political  manager  of  this  country  under  Lord  Islay  ;  and  now 
that  his  lordship  had  been  Duke  of  Argyle  since  1744,  when 
his  brother  John  died,  their  influence  was  completely  estab 
lished.  The  Duke  had  early  made  choice  of  Fletcher  for  his 
coadjutor,  and  had  proved  his  sagacity  by  making  so  good  a 
choice  ;  for  Lord  Milton  was  a  man  of  great  ability  in  busi 
ness,  a  man  of  good  sense,  and  of  excellent  talents  for  man 
aging  men  ;  and  though  his  conversation  was  on  a  limited 
scale,  because  his  knowledge  was  very  much  so,  yet  being 


212  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

possessed  of  indefeasible  power  at  that  time  in  Scotland,  and 
keeping  an  excellent  table,  his  defects  were  overlooked,  and 
he  was  held  to  be  as  agreeable  as  he  was  able. 

His  talents  had  been  illustrated  by  the  incapacity  of  the 
Tweeddale  Ministry,  who  were  in  power  during  the  Rebellion, 
and  who  had  been  obliged  to  resort  to  Milton  for  intelligence 
and  advice.  When  the  Rebellion  was  suppressed,  and  the 
Duke  of  Argyle  brought  again  into  power,  he  and  Fletcher 
very  wisely  gained  the  hearts  of  the  Jacobites,  who  were  still 
very  numerous,  by  adopting  the  most  lenient  measures,  and 
taking  the  distressed  families  under  their  protection,  while  the 
Squadrone  party  continued  as  violent  against  them  as  ever. 
This  made  them  almost  universally  successful  in  the  parlia 
mentary  election  which  followed  the  Rebellion,  and  established 
their  power  till  the  death  of  the  Duke,  which  happened  in 
1761. 

His  [Lord  Milton's]  youngest  daughter,  afterwards  Mrs. 
Wedderburn,  was  one  of  the  first  females  in  point  of  under 
standing  as  well  as  heart  that  ever  fell  in  my  way  to  be 
intimately  acquainted  with.  As  there  was  much  weakness 
and  intrigue  in  the  mother  and  some  other  branches  of  the 
family,  she  had  a  difficult  part  to  act,  but  she  performed  it 
with  much  address  ;  for  while  she  preserved  her  father's  pre 
dilection  and  confidence,  she  remained  well  with  the  rest  of 
the  family.  The  eldest  brother,  Andrew,  lived  for  most  part 
with  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  at  London,  as  his  private  secretary, 
and  was  M.  P.  for  East  Lothian  ;  and  though  not  a  man  who 
produced  himself  in  public  life,  was  sufficiently  knowing  and 
accomplished  to  be  a  very  amiable  member  of  society.  After 
the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle  in  1761,  and  of  his  father  in 
1767,  he  lived  for  most  part  at  his  seat  at  Saltoun,  iii  East 
Lothian.  He  was  succeeded  as  member  of  Parliament  for 
that  county  by  Sir  George  Suttie,  who  had  been  a  lieutenant- 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES.  213 

colonel  in  the  army,  and  who,  with  many  others,  left  the  service 
in  disgust  with  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  who,  though  he  had 
always  been  beat  in  Flanders,  had  disobliged  sundry  officers 
of  good  promise.  This  Sir  George,  however,  was  much  over 
rated.  He  was  held  to  be  a  great  officer,  because  he  had  a 
way  of  thinking  of  his  own,  and  had  learned  from  his  kins 
man,  Marshal  Stair,  to  draw  the  plan  of  a  campaign.  He  was 
held  to  be  a  great  patriot,  because  he  wore  a  coarse  coat  and 
unpowdered  hair,  while  he  was  looking  for  a  post  with  the 
utmost  anxiety.  He  was  reckoned  a  man  of  much  sense 
because  he  said  so  himself,  and  had  such  an  embarrassed 
stuttering  elocution  that  one  was  not  sure  but  it  was  true.  He 
was  understood  to  be  a  great  improver  of  land,  because  he 
was  always  talking  of  farming,  and  had  invented  a  cheap 
method  of  fencing  his  fields  by  combining  a  low  stone-wall 
and  a  hedge  together,  which,  on  experiment,  did  not  answer. 
For  all  those  qualities  he  got  credit  for  some  time ;  but  nobody 
ever  mentioned  the  real  strength  of  his  character,  which  was 
that  of  an  uncommonly  kind  and  indulgent  brother  to  a  large 
family  of  brothers  and  sisters,  whom  he  allowed,  during  his 
absence  in  a  five  years'  war,  to  dilapidate  his  estate,  and  leave 
him  less  than  half  his  income.  Lord  Stair  had  been  caught 
by  the  boldness  of  his  cousin  in  attempting  to  make  the  plan 
of  a  campaign,  which  had  given  the  young  man  a  false  measure 
of  his  own  ability. 

For  two  summers,  about  this  time,  I  went  for  some  weeks 
to  Dunse  Well,  which  was  in  high  vogue  at  this  period,  when 
I  was  often  at  Polwarth  Manse,  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Home,  the  last  of  whom  was  aunt  of  Mary  Roddam,  the  young 
lady  whom  I  afterwards  married,  and  who  had  lived  there 
since  the  death  of  her  father  and  mother  in  the  years  1744 
and  1745.  John  Home  passed  half  his  time  in  this  house, 
Mr.  William  Home,  a  brother  of  the  Laird  of  Bassendean, 


214  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

being  his  cousin,  and  Mrs.  Home  (Mary  Roddam)  a  superior 
woman.  By  frequenting  this  house  I  was  introduced  to  the 
Earl  of  Marchmont,  whose  seat  was  hard  by.  His  second 
lady,  who  was  young  and  handsome,  but  a  simple  and  quiet 
woman,  and  three  daughters  he  had  by  his  former  lady,  were 
all  under  due  subjection,  for  his  lordship  kept  a  high  command 
at  home.  The  daughters  were  all  clever,  particularly  Lady 
Margaret,  and  stood  less  in  awe  than  the  Countess,  who,  had 
it  not  been  for  her  only  child,  Lord  Polwarth,  then  an  infant, 
would  have  led  but  an  uncomfortable  life.  The  family  of 
Marchmont,  —  which  rose  to  the  peerage  at  the  Revolution, 
and  to  the  ascendant  in  the  country,  through  the  weakness  and 
Jacobitism  of  the  more  ancient  Earls  of  Home,  from  whom 
they  were  descended,  —  to  preserve  their  superiority,  paid 
great  court  to  the  county,  and  particularly  to  the  clergy,  be 
cause  they  were  the  only  stanch  friends  to  Government. 
Marchmont  was  lively  and  eloquent  in  conversation,  with  a 
tincture  of  classical  learning,  and  some  knowledge  of  the 
constitution,  especially  of  the  forms  of  the  House  of  Peers  ; 
but  his  wit  appeared  to  me  to  be  petulant,  and  his  understand 
ing  shallow.  His  twin-brother,  Hume  Campbell,  then  Lord- 
Register  for  Scotland,  and  one  of  the  most  eloquent  lawyers 
in  the  House,  of  Commons,  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  man  of 
sounder  judgment  than  his  brother ;  his  want  of  manhood, 
however,  had  been  disclosed  by  his  receiving  an  insult  from 
William  Pitt,  the  father,  which  he  had  probably  been  tempted 
to  inflict  on  his  having  heard  what  had  happened  to  him  in 
Edinburgh  in  his  youthful  days. 

In  one  of  the  summers  in  which  I  was  in  that  part  of  the 
country,  the  Lord-Register  gave  a  ball  and  supper  in  the 
town-hall  of  Greenlaw,  which  I  mention  because  I  had  there 
an  opportunity  of  conversing  with  Lady  Murray  and  her 
friend  Lady  Hervey,  who  was  understood  to  be  one  of  the 


TOBIAS  SMOLLETT.     '  215 

most  accomplished  and  witty  ladies  in  England.  There  were 
in  this  neighborhood  several  very  agreeable  clergymen  :  Chatto 
was  very  acute  and  sensible,  —  Ridpath  judicious  and  learned, 
—  Dickson  an  able  ecclesiastic,  and  master  of  agriculture. 

In  one  of  those  years  it  was,  when  Dunse  Well  was  most 
frequented,  that  the  Marchmont  family  for  several  weeks 
attended,  and  came  to  Dunse,  and  breakfasted  at  a  small 
tavern  by  the  bowling-green.  We  generally  sat  down  twenty- 
four  or  twenty-five  to  breakfast  in  a  very  small  room.  March 
mont  and  his  brother  behaved  with  great  courtesy,  seldom 
sitting  down,  but  aiding  the  servants.  Francis  Garden  was 
there,  and  increased  the  mirth  of  the  company.  Most  of  the 
company  remained  all  the  forenoon  at  the  bowling-green, 
where  we  had  very  agreeable  parties. 

It  was  also  in  one  of  those  years  that  Smollett  visited  Scot 
land  for  the  first  time,  after  having  left  Glasgow  immediately 
after  his  education  was  finished,  and  his  engaging  as  a  sur 
geon's  mate  on  board  a  man-of-war,  which  gave  him  an 
opportunity  of  witnessing  the  siege  of  Carthagena,  which  he 
has  so  minutely  described  in  his  Roderick  Random.  He  came 
out  to  Musselburgh  and  passed  a  day  and  a  night  with  me, 
and  went  to  church  and  heard  me  preach.  I  introduced  him 
to  Cardonnel  the  Commissioner,  with  whom  he  supped,  and 
they  were  much  pleased  with  each  other.  Smollett  has  re 
versed  this  in  his  Humphrey  Clinker,  where  he  makes  the 
Commissioner  his  old  acquaintance.*  He  went  next  to  Glas 
gow  and  that  neighborhood  to  visit  his  friends,  and  returned 
again  to  Edinburgh  in  October,  when  I  had  frequent  meetings 
with  him,  —  one  in  particular,  in  a  tavern,  where  there  supped 

*  But  on  naming  the  far  more  distinguished  men  seen  by  him  in  the 
"  hotbead  of  genius,"  Bramble  says,  "These  acquaintances  I  owe  to  the 
friendship  of  Dr.  Carlyle,  who  wants  nothing  but  inclination  to  figure  with 
the  rest  on  paper."  —  ED. 


216  PERSONAL  SKETCHES. 

with  him  Commissioner  Cardonnel,  Mr.  Hepburn  of  Keith, 
John  Home,  and  one  or  two  more.  Hepburn  was  so  much 
pleased  with  Cardonnel,  that  he  said  that  if  he  went  into  re 
bellion  again,  it  should  be  for  the  grandson  of  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth.  Cardonnel  and  I  went  with  Smollett  to  Sir 
David  Kinloch's,  and  passed  the  day,  when  John  Home  and 
Logan  and  I  conducted  him  to  Dunbar,  where  we  stayed 
together  all  night. 

Smollett  was  a  man  of  very  agreeable  conversation  and  of 
much  genuine  humor ;  and,  though  not  a  profound  scholar, 
possessed  a  philosophical  mind,  and  was  capable  of  making  the 
soundest  observations  on  human  life,  and  of  discerning  the  ex 
cellence  or  seeing  the  ridicule  of  every  character  he  met  with. 
Fielding  only  excelled  him  in  giving  a  dramatic  story  to  his 
novels,  but,  in  my  opinion,  was  inferior  to  him  in  the  true 
comic  vein.  He  was  one  of  the  many  very  pleasant  men 
with  whom  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  intimately  acquainted. 
Mr.  Cardonnel,  whom  I  have  mentioned,  was  another  who 
excelled,  like  Smollett,  in  a  great  variety  of  pleasant  stories. 
Sir  Hew  Dalrymple,  North  Berwick,  had  as  much  conver 
sation  and  wit  as  any  man  of  his  time,  having  been  long  an 
M.  P.  David  Hume  and  Dr.  John  Jardine  were  likewise  both 
admirable,  and  had  the  peculiar  talent  of  rallying  their  com 
panions  on  their  good  qualities.  Dr.  William  Wight  and 
Thomas  Hepburn  were  also  remarkable  —  the  one  for  bril 
liancy,  vivacity,  and  smartness ;  the  other  for  the  shrewdness 
of  his  remarks  and  irresistible  repartees.  The  Right  Honor 
able  Charles  Townshend  and  Patrick  Lord  Elibank  were  like 
wise  admirable ;  for  though  the  first  was  inferior  in  knowledge 
to  the  second,  yet  he  had  such  flowing  eloquence,  so  fine  a 
voice,  and  such  richness  of  expression,  joined  to  brilliant  wit 
and  a  fine  vein  of  mimicry,  as  made  him  shine  in  every  com 
pany.  Elibank  was  more  enlightened  and  more  profound,  and 


PERSONAL   SKETCHES.  217 

had  a  mind  that  embraced  the  greatest  variety  of  topics,  and 
produced  the  most  original  remarks.  He  was  rather  a  humor 
ist  than  a  man  of  humor  ;  but  that  bias  of  his  temper  led  him 
to  defend  paradoxes  and  uncommon  opinions  with  a  copious 
ness  and  ingenuity  that  was  surprising.  He  had  been  a  lieu 
tenant-colonel  in  the  army,  and  was  at  the  seige  of  Carthagena, 
of  which  he  left  an  elegant  and  Xenophon-like  account  (which 
I  'm  afraid  is  lost).  He  was  a  Jacobite,  and  a  member  of  the 
famous  Cocoa-tree  Club,  and  resigned  his  commission  on  some 
disgust.  Soon  after  the  Rebellion  of  1745  he  took  up  his  resi 
dence  in  Scotland,  and  his  seat  being  between  Dr.  Robertson's 
church  and  John  Home's,  he  became  intimately  acquainted 
with  them,  who  cured  him  of  his  contempt  for  the  Presby 
terian  clergy,  made  him  change  or  soften  down  many  of  his 
original  opinions,  and  prepared  him  for  becoming  a  most 
agreeable  member  of  the  Literary  Society  of  Edinburgh,  among 
whom  he  lived  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  admiring  and 
admired.  We  used  to  say  of  Elibank,  that  were  we  to  plead 
for  our  lives,  he  was  the  man  with  whom  we  would  wish  to  con 
verse  for  at  least  one  whole  day  before  we  made  our  defence. 

Dr.  M'Cormick,  who  died  Principal  of  St.  Andrews,  was 
rather  a  merry -andrew  than  a  wit ;  but  he  left  as  many  good 
sayings  behind  him,  which  are  remembered,  as  any  man  of  his 
time.  Andrew  Gray,  minister  of  Abernethy,  was  a  man  of 
wit  and  humor,  which  had  the  greater  effect  that  his  person 
was  diminutive,  and  his  voice  of  the  smallest  treble. 

Lindsay  was  a  hussar  in  raillery,  who  had  no  mercy,  and 
whose  object  was  to  display  himself  and  to  humble  the  man 
he  played  on.  Monteath  was  more  than  his  match,  for  he  lay 
by,  and  took  his  opportunity  of  giving  him  such  southboards 
as  silenced  him  for  the  whole  evening.*  Happily  for  con- 

*  Lindsay  was  minister  of  the  parish  of  Kirkliston,  and  Monteath  of  the 
parish  of  Lotigformacus.  —  ED. 

10 


218  CULLEN  MIMICRIES. 

versation,  this  horse-play  raillery  has  been  left  off  for  more 
than  thirty  years  among  the  clergy  and  other  liberals.  Drum- 
more  —  of  the  class  of  lawyers  who  got  the  epithet  of  Monk 
from  Quin,  at  Bath,  on  account  of  his  pleasing  countenance 
and  bland  manners  —  was  a  first-rate  at  the  science  of  defence 
in  raillery :  he  was  too  good-natured  to  attack.  He  had  the 
knack,  not  only  of  pleasing  fools  with  themselves,  but  of  mak 
ing  them  tolerable  to  the  company.  There  were  two  men, 
however,  whose  coming  into  a  convivial  company  pleased 
more  than  anybody  I  ever  knew ;  the  one  was  Dr.  George 
Kay,  a  minister  of  Edinburgh,  who,  to  a  charming  vivacity 
when  he  was  in  good  spirits,  added  the  talent  of  ballad-singing 
better  than  anybody  ever  I  knew  ;  the  other  was  John  Home. 

I  should  not  omit  Lord  Cullen  here,  though  he  was  much 
my  junior,  who  in  his  youth  possessed  the  talent  of  mimicry 
beyond  all  mankind  ;  for  his  was  not  merely  an  exact  imita 
tion  of  voice  and  manner  of  speaking,  but  a  perfect  exhibition 
of  every  man's  manner  of  thinking  on  every  subject.  I  shall 
mention  two  or  three  instances,  lest  his  wonderful  powers 
should  fall  into  oblivion. 

When  the  Honorable  James  Stuart  Wortley  lived  with  Dr. 
Robertson,  the  Doctor  had  sometimes,  though  rarely,  to  re 
monstrate  and  admonish  the  young  gentleman  on  some  parts 
of  his  conduct.  He  came  into  the  room  between  ten  and 
eleven  in  the  morning,  when  Mr.  Stuart  was  still  in  bed,  with 
the  windows  shut  and  the  curtains  drawn  close,  when  he  took  , 
the  opportunity,  in  his  mild  and  rational  manner  (for  he  could 
not  chide),  to  give  him  a  lecture  on  the  manner  of  life  he  was 
leading.  When  he  was  done,  "  This  is  rather  too  much,  my 
dear  Doctor,"  said  James ;  "  for  you  told  me  all  this  not  above 
an  hour  ago."  The  case  was,  that  Cullen  had  been  before 
hand  with  the  Doctor,  and  seizing  the  opportunity,  read  his 
friend  such  a  lecture  as  he  thought  the  Doctor  might  probably 


CULLEN  MIMICRIES.  219 

do  that  morning.  It  was  so  very  like  in  thought  and  in  words, 
that  Stuart  took  it  for  a  visitation  from  the  Doctor. 

I  was  witness  to  another  exhibition  similar  to  this.  It  was 
one  day  in  the  General  Assembly  1765,  when  there  happened 
to  be  a  student  of  physic  who  was  seized  with  a  convulsion  fit, 
which  occasioned  much  commotion  in  the  house,  and  drew  a 
score  of  other  English  students  around  him.  When  the  As 
sembly  adjourned,  about  a  dozen  of  us  went  to  dine  in  the 
Poker  club-room  at  Nicholson's,  when  Dr.  Robertson  came 
and  told  us  he  must  dine  with  the  Commissioner,  but  would 
join  us  soon.  Immediately  after  we  dined,  somebody  wished 
to  hear  from  Cullen  what  Robertson  would  say  about  the  in 
cident  that  had  taken  place,  which  he  did  immediately,  lest  the 
Principal  should  come  in.  He  had  hardly  finished  when  he 
arrived.  After  the  company  had  drank  his  health,  Jardine 
said  slyly,  "  Principal,  was  it  not  a  strange  accident  that  hap 
pened  to-day  in  the  Assembly  ?  "  Robertson's  answer  was 
exactly  in  the  strain,  and  almost  in  the  very  words,  of  Cullen. 
This  raised  a  very  loud  laugh  in  the  company,  when  the 
Doctor,  more  ruffled  than  I  ever  almost  saw  him,  said,  with  a 
severe  look  at  Cullen,  "  I  perceive  somebody  has  been  plough 
ing  with  my  heifer  before  I  came  in." 

On  another  occasion  he  was  asked  to  exhibit,  when  he 
answered  that  his  subjects  were  so  much  hackneyed  that  he 
could  not  go  over  them  with  spirit ;  but  if  any  of  them  would 
mention  a  new  subject,  he  would  try  to  please  them.  One 
of  the  company  mentioned  the  wild  beast  in  the  Gevaudan, 
when,  after  laying  his  head  on  the  table,  not  for  more  than 
two  or  three  minutes,  he  lifted  himself  up  and  said,  "  Now 
I  have  it,"  and  immediately  gave  us  the  thoughts  of  the 
Judges  Auchinleck,  Kames,  and  Monboddo,  and  Dr.  Robert 
son,  with  a  characteristical  exactness  of  sentiment,  as  well 
as  words,  tone,  and  manner,  as  astonished  the  company. 


220  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

This  happened  at  Dr.  Blair's,  who  then  lived  in  James's 
Square.* 

This  was  a  very  pleasing  but  dangerous  talent,  for  it  led  to 
dissipation.  "When  he  had  left  off  his  usual  mode  of  ex 
hibition  when  called  upon,  yet  he  could  not  restrain  himself 
from  displaying  in  his  common  conversation,  in  which  he  in 
termingled  specimens  of  his  superlative  art  as  the  characters 
came  in  his  way,  which  to  me  was  much  more  agreeable  than 
the  professed  exhibition.  As  he  was  more  knowing  and  ac 
complished  than  almost  any  judge  in  his  time,  had  all  other 
qualities  been  of  a  piece,  his  company  would  very  long  have 
been  courted.  In  giving  some  account  of  those  very  pleasant 
characters  which  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  know,  I  have 
anticipated  several  years ;  for  Mr.  Robert  Cullen,  for  instance, 
did  not  begin  to  be  known  till  after  1760.  But  I  shall  now 
return  to  my  narrative. 

It  was  in  the  General  Assembly  1753,  as  I  have  before 
mentioned,  that  Dr.  Webster  being  Moderator,  he  put  an  end 
to  the  ancient  mode  of  calling  up  Principals,  and  Professors, 
and  Judges,  &c.,  to  give  their  opinion  on  cases  which  came 
before  the  Assembly,  by  declaring  that  he  would  call  upon  no 
person,  but  would  expect  that  every  member  should  freely 
deliver  his  opinion  when  he  had  any  to  offer.  This  brought 
on  the  junior  members,  and  much  animated  and  improved  the 
debates.  The  old  gentlemen  at  first  were  sulky  and  held  their 
tongues,  but  in  two  or  three  days  they  found  them  again,  lest 
they  should  lose  their  ascendant.  I  never  afterwards  saw  the 
practice  revived  of  calling  upon  members  to  speak,  except 
once  or  twice  when  Principal  Tullidelph  attended,  whom 

*  The  sanguinary  feats  attributed  to  "  the  great  beast  of  the  Gevaudan  " 
excited  all  Europe  in  1764,  and  there  was  much  astonishment  when,  being 
at  last  killed,  it  was  found  to  be  only  a  large  wolf.  Horace  Walpole  saw  its 
carcass  in  the  Queen's  antechamber  at  Versailles.  —  ED. 


DAVID  HUME.  221 

everybody  wished  to  hear,  but  who  would  not  rise  without 
having  that  piece  of  respect  paid  to  him. 

At  this  Assembly  it  was  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  have 
Gillespie,  the  deposed  minister,  restored ;  but  as  he  had  not 
taken  the  proper  steps  to  conciliate  the  Church,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  had  continued  to  preach,  and  had  set  up  a  separate 
congregation,  the  application  by  his  friends  was  refused  by  a 
great  majority,  and  Avas  never  repeated. 

At  this  time  David  Hume  was  living  in  Edinburgh  and 
composing  his  History  of  Great  Britain.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  knowledge,  and  of  a  social  and  benevolent  temper,  and 
truly  the  best-natured  man  in  the  world.  He  was  branded 
with  the  title  of  Atheist,  on  account  of  the  many  attacks  on 
revealed  religion  that  are  to  be  found  in  his  philosophical 
works,  and  in  many  places  of  his  History,  —  the  last  of  which 
are  still  more  objectionable  than  the  first,  which  a  friendly 
critic  might  call  only  sceptical.  Apropos  of  this,  when  Mr. 
Robert  Adam,  the  celebrated  architect,  and  his  brother,  lived 
in  Edinburgh  with  their  mother,  an  aunt  of  Dr.  Robertson's, 
and  a  very  respectable  woman,  she  said  to  her  son,  "  I  shall 
be  glad  to  see  any  of  your  companions  to  dinner,  but  I  hope 
you  will  never  bring  the  Atheist  here  to  disturb  my  peace." 
But  Robert  soon  fell  on  a  method  to  reconcile  her  to  hjm,  for 
he  introduced  him  under  another  name,  or  concealed  it  care 
fully  from  her.  When  the  company  parted  she  said  to  her 
son,  "  I  must  confess  that  you  bring  very  agreeable  companions 
about  you,  but  the  large  jolly  man  who  sat  next  me  is  the  most 
agreeable  of  them  all."  "  This  was  the  very  Atheist,"  said  he, 
"  mother,  that  you  was  so  much  afraid  of."  u  Well,"  says  she, 
"  you  may  bring  him  here  as  much  as  you  please,  for  he  's  the 
most  innocent,  agreeable,  facetious  man  I  ever  met  with." 
This  was  truly  the  case  with  him  ;  for  though  he  had  much 
learning  and  a  fine  taste,  and  was  professedly  a  sceptic,  though 


222  DAVID  HUME. 

by  no  means  an  atheist,  he  had  the  greatest  simplicity  of  mind 
and  manners  with  the  utmost  facility  and  benevolence  of  tem 
per  of  any  man  I  ever  knew.  His  conversation  was  truly 
irresistible,  for  while  it  was  enlightened,  it  was  naive  almost 
to  puerility. 

I  was  one  of  those  who  never  believed  that  David  Hume's 
sceptical  principles  had  laid  fast  hold  on  his  mind,  but  thought 
that  his  books  proceeded  rather  from  affectation  of  superiority 
and  pride  of  understanding  and  love  of  vainglory.  I  was 
confirmed  in  this  opinion,  after  his  death,  by  what  the  Hon 
orable  Patrick  Boyle,  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  told 
me  many  years  ago  at  my  house  in  Musselburgh,  where  he 
used  to  come  and  dine  the  first  Sunday  of  every  General 
Assembly,  after  his  brother,  Lord  Glasgow,  ceased  to  be  Lord 
High  Commissioner.  When  we  were  talking  of  David,  Mrs. 
Carlyle  asked  Mr.  Boyle  if  he  thought  David  Hume  was  as 
great  an  unbeliever  as  the  world  took  him  to  be  ?  He  an 
swered,  that  the  world  judged  from  his  books,  as  they  had  a 
right  to  do ;  but  he  thought  otherwise,  who  had  known  him 
all  his  life,  and  mentioned  the  following  incident :  When  David 
and  he  were  both  in  London,  at  the  period  when  David's 
mother  died,  Mr.  Boyle,  hearing  of  it,  soon  after  went  into  his 
apartment,  —  for  they  lodged  in  the  same  house,  — when  he 
found  him  in  the  deepest  affliction  and  in  a  flood  of  tears. 
After  the  usual  topics  of  condolence,  Mr.  Boyle  said  to  him, 
"  My  friend,  you  owe  this  uncommon  grief  to  your  having 
thrown  off  the  principles  of  religion  ;  for  if  you  had  not,  you 
would  have  been  consoled  by  the  firm  belief  that  the  good 
lady,  who  was  not  only  the  best  of  mothers,  but  the  most 
pious  of  Christians,  was  now  completely  happy  in  the  realms 
of  the  just."  To  which  David  replied,  "  Though  I  threw  out 
my  speculations  to  entertain  and  employ  the  learned  and  meta 
physical  world,  yet  in  other  things  I  do  not  think  so  differently 


DAVID  HUME.  223 

from  the  rest  of  mankind  as  you  may  imagine."  To  this  my 
wife  was  a  witness.  This  conversation  took  place  the  year 
after  David  died,  when  Dr.  Hill,  who  was  to  preach,  had  gone 
to  a  room  to  look  over  his  notes. 

At  this  period,  when  he  first  lived  in  Edinburgh,  and  was 
writing  his  History  of  England,  his  circumstances  were  narrow, 
and  he  accepted  the  office  of  Librarian  to  the  Faculty  of  Ad 
vocates,  worth  £  40  per  annum.  But  it  was  not  for  the  salary 
that  he  accepted  this  employment,  but  that  he  might  have  easy 
access  to  the  books  in  that  celebrated  library ;  for,  to  my  cer 
tain  knowledge,  he  gave  every  farthing  of  the  salary  to  families 
in  distress.  Of  a  piece  with  this  temper  was  his  curiosity  and 
credulity,  which  were  without  bounds,  a  specimen  of  which 
shall  be  afterwards  given  when  I  come  down  to  Militia  and 
the  Poker,  His  economy  was  strict,  as  he  loved  indepen 
dency  ;  and  yet  he  was  able  at  that  time  to  give  suppers  to  his 
friends  in  his  small  lodging  in  the  Canongate.  He  took  much 
to  the  company  of  the  younger  clergy,  not  from  a  wish  to 
bring  them  over  to  his  opinions,  for  he  never  attempted  to 
overturn  any  man's  principles,  but  they  best  understood  his 
notions,  and  could  furnish  him  with  literary  conversation. 
Robertson  and  John  Home  and  Bannatine  and  I  lived  all  in 
the  country,  and  came  only  periodically  to  the  town.  Blair 
and  Jardine  both  lived  in  it,  and  suppers  being  the  only 
fashionable  meal  at  that  time,  we  dined  where  we  best  could, 
and  by  cadies  assembled  our  friends  to  meet  us  in  a  tavern  by 
nine  o'clock  ;  and  a  fine  time  it  was  when  we  could  collect 
David  Hume,  Adam  Smith,  Adam  Ferguson,  Lord  Elibank, 
and  Drs.  Blair  and  Jardine,  on  an  hour's  warning.  I  re 
member  one  night  that  David  Hume,  who,  having  dined 
abroad,  came  rather  late  to  us,  and  directly  pulled  a  large 
key  from  his  pocket,  which  he  laid  on  the  table.  This  he  said 
was  given  him  by  his  maid  Peggy  (much  more  like  a  man 


224  DAVID  HUME. 

than  a  woman)  that  she  might  not  sit  up  for  him,  for  she  said 
when  the  honest  fellows  came  in  from  the  country,  he  never 
returned  home  till  after  one  o'clock.  This  intimacy  of  the 
young  clergy  with  David  Hume  enraged  the  zealots  on  the 
opposite  side,  who  little  knew  how  impossible  it  was  for  him, 
had  he  been  willing,  to  shake  their  principles. 

As  Mr.  Hume's  circumstances  improved  he  enlarged  his 
mode  of  living,  and  instead  of  the  roasted  hen  and  minced 
collops,  and  a  bottle  of  punch,  he  gave  both  elegant  dinners 
and  suppers,  and  the  best  claret,  and,  which  was  best  of  all, 
he  furnished  the  entertainment  with  the  most  instructive  and 
pleasing  conversation,  for  he  assembled  whosoever  were  most 
knowing  and  agreeable  among  either  the  laity  or  clergy.  This 
he  always  did,  but  still  more  unsparingly  when  he  became 
what  he  called  rich.  For  innocent  mirth  and  agreeable  rail 
lery  I  never  knew  his  match.  Jardine,  who  sometimes  bore 
hard  upon  him  —  for  he  had  much  drollery  and  wit,  though 
but  little  learning  —  never  could  overturn  his  temper.  Lord 
Elibank  resembled  David  in  his  talent  for  collecting  agreeable 
companions  together,  and  had  a  house  in  town  for  several 
winters  chiefly  for  that  purpose. 

David,  who  delighted  in  what  the  French  call  plaisanterie, 
with  the  aid  of  Miss  Nancy  Ord,  one  of  the  Chief  Baron's 
daughters,  contrived  and  executed  one  that  gave  him  very 
great  delight.  As  the  New  Town  was  making  its  progress 
westward,  he  built  a  house  in  the  southwest  corner  of  St. 
Andrew  Square.  The  street  leading  south  to  Princes  Street 
had  not  yet  got  its  name  affixed,  but  they  got  a  workman  early 
one  morning  to  paint  on  the  corner-stone  of  David's  house 
"  St.  David's  Street,"  where  it  remains  to  this  day. 

He  was  at  first  quite  delighted  with  Ossian's  poems,  and 
gloried  in  them  ;  but  on  going  to  London  he  went  over  to  the 
other  side,  and  loudly  affirmed  them  to  be  inventions  of  Mac- 


DAVID   HUME.  225 

pherson.  I  happened  to  say  one  day,  when  he  was  declaim 
ing  against  Macpherson,  that  I  had  met  with  nobody  of  his 
opinion  but  William  Caddel  of  Cockenzie,  and  President  Dun- 
das,  which  he  took  ill,  and  was  some  time  of  forgetting.  This 
is  one  instance  of  what  Smellie  says  of  him,  that  though  of 
the  best  temper  in  the  world,  yet  he  could  be  touched  by  op 
position  or  rudeness.  This  was  the  only  time  I  had  ever  ob 
served  David's  temper  change.  I  can  call  to  mind  an  instance 
or  two  of  his  good-natured  pleasantry.  Being  at  Gilmerton, 
where  David  Hume  was  on  a  visit,  Sir  David  Kinloch  made 
him  go  to  Athlestaneford  Church,  where  I  preached  for  John 
Home.  When  we  met  before  dinner,  "What  did  you  mean," 
says  he  to  me,  "  by  treating  John's  congregation  to-day  with 
one  of  Cicero's  academics  ?  I  did  not  think  that  such  heathen 
morality  would  have  passed  in  East  Lothian."  On  Monday, 
when  we  were  assembling  to  breakfast,  David  retired  to  the 
end  of  the  dining-room,  when  Sir  David  entered  :  "  What  are 
you  doing  there,  Davy  ?  come  to  your  breakfast."  "  Take 
away  the  enemy  first,"  says  David.  The  baronet,  thinking  it 
was  the  warm  fire  that  kept  David  in  the  lower  end  of  the 
room,  rung  the  bell  for  a  servant  to  carry  some  of  it  off.  It 
was  not  the  fire  that  scared  David,  but  a  large  Bible  that  was 
left  on  a  stand  at  the  upper  end  of  the  room,  a  chapter  of 
which  had  been  read  at  the  family  prayers  the  night  before, 
that  good  custom  not  being  then  out  of  use  when  clergymen 
were  in  the  house.  Add  to  this  John  Home  saying  to  him  at 
the  Poker  Club,  when  everybody  wondered  what  could  have 
made  a  clerk  of  Sir  William  Forbes  run  away  with  £900  — 
"  I  know  that  very  well,"  says  John  Home  to  David  ;  "  for 
when  he  was  taken,  there  was  found  in  his  pocket  your  Philo 
sophical  Works  and  Boston's  Fourfold  State  of  Man." 

David  Hume,  during  all  his  life,  had  written  the  most  pleas 
ing  and  agreeable  letters  to  his  friends.     I  have  preserved 
10*  o 


226  DAVID  HUME. 

two  of  these.  But  I  lately  saw  two  of  more  early  date  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Sandiland  Dysart,  Esq.,  W.  S.,  to  his  mother 
who  was  a  friend  of  David's,  and  a  very  accomplished  woman, 
one  of  them  dated  in  1751,  on  occasion  of  his  brother  Hume 
of  Ninewell's  marriage ;  and  the  other  in  1754,  with  a  present 
of  the  first  volume  of  his  History,  both  of  which  are  written 
in  a  vein  of  pleasantry  and  playfulness  which  nothing  can  ex 
ceed,  and  which  makes  me  think  that  a  collection  of  his  letters 
would  be  a  valuable  present  to  the  world,  and  present  through 
out  a  very  pleasing  picture  of  his  mind.* 

I  have  heard  him  say  that  Baron  Montesquieu,  when  he 
asked  him  if  he  did  not  think  that  there  would  soon  be  a  revo 
lution  in  France  favorable  to  liberty,  answered,  "  No,  for  their 
noblesse  had  all  become  poltroons."  He  said  that  the  club  in 
Paris  (Baron  Holbach's)  to  which  he  belonged  were  of  opin 
ion  that  Christianity  would  be  abolished  in  Europe  by  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  ;  and  that  they  laughed  at  Andrew 
Stuart  for  making  a  battle  in  favor  of  a  future  state,  and  called 
him  "  L'ame  Immortelle." 

David  Hume,  like  Smith,  had  no  discernment  at  all  of 
characters.  The  only  two  clergymen  whose  interests  he 
espoused,  and  for  one  of  whom  he  provided,  were  the  two 
silliest  fellows  in  the  Church.  With  every  opportunity,  he 
was  ridiculously  shy  of  asking  favors,  on  account  of  preserv 
ing  his  independence,  which  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  a 
very  foolish  kind  of  pride.  His  friend  John  Home,  with  not 
more  benevolence,  but  with  no  scruples  from  a  wish  of  inde 
pendence,  for  which  he  was  not  born,  availed  himself  of  his 
influence  and  provided  for  hundreds,  and  yet  he  never  asked 
anything  for  himself. 

Adam  Smith,  though  perhaps  only  second  to  David  in  learn- 

*  They  will  bo  found  in  The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  David  Hume,  by 
the  Editor. 


ADAM  SMITH.  227 

ing  and  ingenuity,  was  far  inferior  to  him  in  conversational 
talents.  In  that  of  public  speaking  they  were  equal  —  David 
never  tried  it,  and  I  never  heard  Adam  but  once,  which  was 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Select  Society,  when  he  opened  up 
the  design  of  the  meeting.  His  voice  was  harsh  and  enuncia 
tion  thick,  approaching  to  stammering.  His  conversation  was 
not  colloquial,  but  like  lecturing,  in  which  I  have  been  told  he 
was  not  deficient,  especially  when  he  grew  warm.  He  was 
the  most  absent  man  in  company  that  I  ever  saw,  moving  his 
lips,  and  talking  to  himself,  and  smiling,  in  the  midst  of  large 
companie-s.  If  you  awaked  him  from  his  reverie  and  made 
him  attend  to  the  subject  of  conversation,  he  immediately  be 
gan  a  harangue,  and  never  stopped  till  he  told  you  all  he  knew 
about  it,  with  the  utmost  philosophical  ingenuity.  He  knew 
nothing  of  characters,  and  yet  was  ready  to  draw  them  on  the 
slightest  invitation.  But  when  you  checked  him  or  doubted, 
he  retracted  with  the  utmost  ease,  and  contradicted  all  he  had 
been  saying.  His  journey  abroad  with  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch 
cured  him  in  part  of  those  foibles  ;  but  still  he  appeared  very 
unfit  for  the  intercourse  of  the  world  as  a  travelling  tutor. 
But  the  Duke  was  a  character,  both  in  point  of  heart  arid 
understanding,  to  surmount  all  disadvantages  —  he  could  learn 
nothing  ill  from  a  philosopher  of  the  utmost  probity  and  be 
nevolence.  If  he  [Smith]  had  been  more  a  man  of  address 
and  of  the  world,  he  might  perhaps  have  given  a  ply  to  the 
Duke's  fine  mind,  which  was  much  better  when  left  to  its  own 
energy.  Charles  Townshend  had  chosen  Smith,  not  for  his 
fitness  for  the  purpose,  but  for  his  own  glory  in  having  sent  an 
eminent  Scottish  philosopher  to  travel  with  the  Duke. 

Smith  had  from  the  Duke  a  bond  for  a  life  annuity  of  £300, 
till  an  office  of  equal  value  was  obtained  for  him  in  Britain. 
When  the  Duke  got  him  appointed  a  Commissioner  of  the 
Customs  in  Scotland,  he  went  out  to  Dalkeith  with  the  bond 


228  ADAM  SMITH. 

in  his  pocket,  and,  offering  it  to  the  Duke,  told  him  that  he 
thought  himself  bound  in  honor  to  surrender  the  bond,  as  his 
Grace  had  now  got  him  a  place  of  £500.  The  Duke  answered 
that  Mr.  Smith  seemed  more  careful  of  his  own  honor  than  of 
his,  which  he  found  wounded  by  the  proposal.  Thus  acted 
that  good  Duke,  who,  being  entirely  void  of  vanity,  did  not 
value  himself  on  splendid  generosities.  He  had  acted  in  much 
the  same  manner  to  Dr.  Hallam,  who  had  been  his  tutor  at 
Eton  ;  for  wlien  Mr.  Townshend  proposed  giving  Hallam  an 
annuity  of  £  100  when  the  Duke  was  taken  from  him,  "  No," 
says  he,  "  it  is  my  desire  that  Hallam  may  have  as  much  as 
Smith,  it  being  a  great  mortification  to  him  that  he  is  not  to 
travel  with  me." 

Though  Smith  had  some  little  jealousy  in  his  temper,  he 
had  the  most  unbounded  benevolence.  His  smile  of  appro 
bation  was  truly  captivating.  His  affectionate  temper  was 
proved  by  his  dutiful  attendance  on  his  mother.  One  instance 
I  remember  "which  marked  his  character.  John  Home  and  he, 
travelling  down  from  London  together  [in  1776],  met  David 
Hume  going  to  Bath  for  the  recovery  of  his  health.  He  anx 
iously  wished  them  both  to  return  with  him ;  John  agreed,  but 
Smith  excused  himself  on  account  of  the  state  of  his  mother's 
health,  whom  he  needs  must  see.  Smith's  fine  writing  is 
chiefly  displayed  in  his  book  on  Moral  Sentiment,  which  is 
the  pleasantest  and  most  eloquent  book  on  the  subject.  His 
Wealth  of  Nations,  from  which  he  was  judged  to  be  an  inven 
tive  genius  of  the  first  order,  is  tedious  and  full  of  repetition. 
His  separate  essays  in  the  second  volume  have  the  air  of  be 
ing  occasional  pamphlets,  without  much  force  or  determination. 
/On  political  subjects  his  opinions  were  not  very  sound. 

Dr.  Adam  Ferguson  was  a  very  different  kind  of  man.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  Highland  clergyman,  who  was  much  re 
spected,  and  had  good  connections.  He  had  the  pride  and 


ADAM  FERGUSON.  229 

high  spirit  of  his  countrymen.  He  was  bred  at  St.  Andrews 
University,  and  had  gone  early  into  the  world  ;  for  being  a 
favorite  of  a  Duchess  Dowager  of  Athole,  and  bred  to  the 
Church,  she  had  him  appointed  chaplain  to  the  42d  regiment, 
then  commanded  by  Lord  John  Murray,  her  son,  when  he  was 
not  more  than  twenty-two.  The  Duchess  had  imposed  a  very 
difficult  task  upon  him,  which  was  to  be  a  kind  of  tutor  or 
guardian  to  Lord  John  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  gain  his  confidence 
and  keep  him  in  peace  with  his  officers,  which  it  was  difficult 
to  do.  This,  however,  he  actually  accomplished,  by  adding  all 
the  decorum  belonging  to  the  clerical  character  to  the  manners 
of  a  gentleman ;  the  effect  of  which  was,  that  he  was  highly 
respected  by  all  the  officers,  and  adored  by  his  countrymen, 
the  common  soldiers.  He  remained  chaplain  to  this  regiment, 
and  went  about  with  them,  till  1755,  when  they  went  to 
America,  on  which  occasion  he  resigned,  as  it  did  not  suit  his 
views  to  attend  them  there.  He  was  a  year  or  two  with  them 
in  Ireland,  and  likewise  attended  them  on  the  expedition  to 
Brittany  under  General  Sinclair,  where  his  friends  David 
Hume  and  Colonel  Edmonstone  also  were.  This  turned  his 
mind  to  the  study  of  war,  which  appears  in  his  Roman  His 
tory,  where  many  of  the  battles  are  better  described  than  by 
any  historian  but  Polybius,  who  was  an  eyewitness  to  so 
many. 

He  had  the  manners  of  a  man  of  the  world,  and  the  de 
meanor  of  a  high-bred  gentleman,  insomuch  that  his  company 
was  much  sought  after ;  for  though  he  conversed  with  ease,  it 
was  with  a  dignified  reserve.  If  he  had  any  fault  in  conver 
sation,  it  was  of  a  piece  with  what  I  have  said  of  his  temper,  for 
the  elevation  of  his  mind  prompted  him  to  such  sudden  transi 
tions  and  dark  allusions  that  it  was  not  always  easy  to  follow 
him,  though  he  was  a  very  good  speaker.  He  had  another  talent, 
unknown  to  any  but  his  intimates,  which  was  a  boundless  vein 


230  ADAM  FERGUSON. 

of  humor,  which  he  indulged  when  there  were  none  others  pres 
ent,  and  which  flowed  from  his  pen  in  every  familiar  letter  he 
wrote.  He  had  the  faults,  however,  that  belonged  to  that  char 
acter,  for  he  was  apt  to  be  jealous  of  his  rivals,  and  indignant 
against  assumed  superiority.  His  wife  used  to  say  that  it  was 
very  fortunate  that  I  was  so  much  in  Edinburgh,  as  I  was  a 
great  peacemaker  among  them.  She  did  not  perceive  that  her 
own  husband  was  the  most  difficult  of  them  all.  But  as  they 
were  all  honorable  men  in  the  highest  degree,  John  Home 
and  I  together  kept  them  on  very  good  terms :  I  mean  by 
them,  Smith  and  Ferguson  and  David  Hume  ;  for  Robertson 
was  very  good-natured,  and  soon  disarmed  the  failing  of  Fer 
guson,  of  whom  he  was  afraid.  With  respect  to  taste,  we  held 
David  Hume  and  Adam  Smith  inferior  to  the  rest,  for  they 
were  both  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the  French  tragedies,  and 
did  not  sufficiently  appreciate  Shakespeare  and  Milton.  Their 
taste  was  a  rational  act,  rather  than  the  instantaneous  effect  of 
fine  feeling.  David  Hume  said  Ferguson  had  more  genius 
than  any  of  them,  as  he  had  made  himself  so  much  master  of 
a  difficult  science  —  viz.  Natural  Philosophy,  which  he  had 
never  studied  but  when  at  college  —  in  three  months,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  teach  it. 

The  time  came  when  those  who  were  overawed  by  Fer 
guson  repaid  him  for  his  haughtiness  ;  for  when  his  Roman 
History  was  published,  at  a  period  when  he  had  lost  his  health, 
and  had  not  been  able  to  correct  it  diligently,  by  a  certain  pro 
pensity  they  had,  unknown  to  themselves,  acquired,  to  dispar 
age  everything  that  came  from  Ferguson,  they  did  his  book 
more  hurt  than  they  could  have  done  by  open  criticism.  It 
was  provoking  to  hear  those  who  were  so  ready  to  give  loud 
praises  to  very  shallow  and  imperfect  English  productions  — 
to  curry  favor,  as  we  supposed,  with  the .  booksellers  and  au 
thors  concerned  —  taking  every  opportunity  to  undermine  the 


ADAM  FERGUSON.  231 

reputation  of  Ferguson's  book.  "  It  was  not  a  Roman  his 
tory,"  said  they  (which  it  did  not  say  it  was).  "  This  delinea 
tion  of  the  constitution  of  the  republic  is  well  sketched ;  but 
for  the  rest,  it  is  anything  but  history,  and  then  it  is  so  incor 
rect  that  it  is  a  perfect  shame."  All  his  other  books  met  with 
the  same  treatment,  while,  at  the  same  time,  there  were  a  few 
of  us  who  could  not  refrain  from  saying  that  Ferguson's  was 
the  best  history  of  Rome  ;  that  what  he  had  omitted  was  fab 
ulous  or  insignificant,  and  what  he  had  wrote  was  more  pro 
found  in  research  into  characters,  and  gave  a  more  just 
delineation  of  them  than  any  book  now  extant.  The  same 
thing  we  said  of  his  book  on  Moral  Philosophy,  which  we  / 
held  to  be  the  book  that  did  the  most  honor  of  any  to  the 
Scotch  philosophers,  because  it  gave  the  most  perfect  picture 
of  moral  virtues,  with  all  their  irresistible  attractions.  His 
book  on  Civil  Society  ought  only  to  be  considered  as  a  college 
exercise,  and  yet  there  is  in  it  a  turn  of  thought  and  a  species 
of  eloquence  peculiar  to  Ferguson.  Smith  had  been  weak 
enough  to  accuse  him  of  having  borrowed  some  of  his  inven 
tions  without  owning  them.  This  Ferguson  denied,  but  owned 
he  derived  many  notions  from  a  French  author,  and  that 
Smith  had  been  there  before  him.  David  Hume  did  not  live 
to  see  Ferguson's  History,  otherwise  his  candid  praise  would 
have  prevented  all  the  subtle  remarks  of  the  jealous  or  re 
sentful. 

With  respect  to  Robertson  and  Blair,  their  lives  and  char 
acters  have  been  fully  laid  before  the  public  —  by  Professor 
Dugald  Stewart  in  a  long  life  of  Robertson,  where,  though  the 
picture  is  rather  in  disjointed  members,  yet  there  is  hardly 
anything  omitted  that  tends  to  make  a  judicious  reader  master 
of  the  character.  Dr.  Blair's  character  is  more  obvious  in  a. 
short  but  very  elegant  and  true  account  of  him,  drawn  up  by 
Dr.  Finlayson.  John  Hill  is  writing  a  more  diffuse  account 


232  DR.  ROBERTSON. 

of  the  letter,  which  may  not  be  so  like.     To  the  character  of 
Robertson  I  have  only  to  add  here,  that,  though  he  was  truly 
a  very  great  master  of  conversation,  and  in  general  perfectly 
agreeable,  yet  he  appeared  sometimes  so  very  fond  of  talking, 
even  when  showing-off  was  out  of  the  question,  and  so  much 
addicted  to  the  translation  of  other  people's  thoughts,  that  he 
sometimes  appeared  tedious  to  his  best  friends.*     Being  on 
one   occasion   invited   to   dine   with   Patrick   Robertson,  his 
brother,  I  missed  my  friend,  whom  I  had  met  there  on  all 
former  occasions ;    "  I  have   not  invited   him   to-day,"   says 
Peter,  "  for  I  have  a  very  good  company,  and  he  '11  let  nobody 
speak  but  himself."     Once  he  was  staying  with  me  for  a  week, 
and  I  carried  him  to  dine  with  our  parish  club,  who  were  fully 
assembled  to  see  and  hear  Dr.  Robertson,  but  Dr.  Finlay  of 
Drummore  took  it  in  his  head  to  come  that  day,  where  he  had 
not  been  for  a  year  before,  who  took  the  lead,  being  then  rich 
and  self-sufficient,  though  a  great  babbler,  and  entirely  disap 
pointed  the  company,  and  gave  us  all  the  headache.      He 
[Robertson]  was  very  much  a  master  of  conversation,  and 
very  desirous  to  lead  it,  and  to  make  dissertations  and  raise 
theories  that  sometimes  provoked  the  laugh  against  him.     One 
instance  of  this  was  when  he  had  gone  a  jaunt  into  England 
with  some  of  Henry  Dundas's  (Lord  Melville's)  family.     He 
[Dundas]  and  Mr.  Baron  Cockburn  and  Robert  Sinclair  were 
on  horseback,  and  seeing  a  gallows  on  a  neighboring  hillock, 
they  rode  round  to  have  a  nearer  view  of  the  felon  on  the 
gallows.     When  they  met  in  the  inn,  Robertson  immediately 
began  a  dissertation  on  the  character  of  nations,  and  how 
much  the  English,  like  the  Romans,  were  hardened  by  their 
cruel  diversions  of  cock-fighting,   bull-baiting,  bruising,  &c. ; 
for  had  they  not  observed  three  Englishmen  on  horseback  do 
what  no  Scotchman  or Here  Dundas,  having  compas- 

*  See  above,  p.  139. 


DR.   ROBERTSON.  233 

sion,  interrupted  him,  and  said,  "What!  did  you  not  know, 
Principal,  that  it  was  Cockburn  and  Sinclair  and  me  ? "  * 
This  put  an  end  to  theories,  &c.,  for  that  day.  Robertson's 
translations  and  paraphrases  on  other  people's  thoughts  were 
so  beautiful  and  so  harmless  that  I  never  saw  anybody  lay 
claim  to  their  own ;  but  it  was  not  so  when  he  forgot  himself 
so  far  as  to  think  he  had  been  present  where  he  had  not  been, 
and  done  what  he  had  not  the  least  hand  in  —  one  very  singu 
lar  instance  of  which  I  remember.  Hugh  Bannatine  and 
some  clergymen  of  Haddington  Presbytery  came  to  town  in 
great  haste,  on  their  being  threatened  with  having  their  goods 
distrained  for  payment  of  the  window-tax.  One  of  them  called 
on  me  as  he  passed ;  but  as  I  was  abroad,  he  left  a  note  (or 
told  Mrs.  C.),  to  come  to  them  directly.  I  rode  instantly  to 
town  and  met  them,  and  it  was  agreed  on  to  send  immediately 
to  the  solicitor,  James  Montgomery.  A  cady  was  despatched, 
but  he  could  not  be  found,  till  I  at  last  heard  his  voice  as  I 
passed  the  door  of  a  neighboring  room.  He  came  to  us  on 
being  sent  for,  and  he  immediately  granted  the  alarmed  breth 
ren  a  sist.  Not  a  week  after,  three  or  four  of  the  same  clergy 
men,  dining  at  the  Doctor's  house  where  I  was,  the  business 
was  talked  of,  when  he  said,  "  Was  not  I  very  fortunate  in 
ferreting  out  the  solicitor  at  Walker's,  when  no  cady  could 
find  him  ?  "  "  No,  no,"  says  I,  "  Principal ;  I  had  that  good- 
luck,  and  you  were  not  so  much  as  at  the  meeting."  We  had 
sent  to  him,  and  he  could  not  come.  "  Well,  well,"  replied  he, 
"  I  have  heard  so  much  about  it  that  I  thought  I  had  been 
there."  He  was  the  best-tempered  man  in  the  world,  and  the 
young  gentlemen  who  had  lived  for  many  years  in  his  house 
declared  they  never  saw  him  once  ruffled.  His  table,  which 
had  always  been  hospitable,  even  when  his  income  was  small, 
became  full  and  elegant  when  his  situation  was  improved.  As 

*  Baron  Cockburn  was  the  father  of  the  late  Lord  Cockburn,  —  ED. 


234  DE.  ROBERTSON. 

he  loved  a  long  repast,  as  he  called  it,  he  was  as  ready  to  give 
it  at  home  as  to  receive  it  abroad.  The  softness  of  his  temper, 
and  his  habits  at  the  head  of  a  party,  led  him  to  seem  to  prom 
ise  what  he  was  not  able  to  perform,  which  weakness  raised  up 
to  him  some  very  inveterate  enemies,  while  at  the  same  time 
his  true  friends  saw  that  those  weaknesses  were  rather  amiable 
than  provoking.  He  was  not  so  much  beloved  by  women  as 
by  men,  which  we  laughingly  used  to  say  was  owing  to  their 
rivalship  as  talkers,  but  was  much  more  owing  to  his  having 
been  very  little  in  company  with  ladies  in  his  youth.  He  was 
early  married,  though  his  wife  (a  very  good  one)  was  not  his 
first  choice,  as  Stewart  in  his  Life  would  make  us  believe. 
Though  not  very  complaisant  to  women,  he  was  not  beyond 
their  regimen  any  more  than  Dr.  George  Wishart,  for  in 
stances  of  both  their  frailties  on  that  side  could  be  quoted. 
'T  is  as  well  to  mention  them  here.  In  the  year  '78,  when 
Drs.  Robertson  and  Drysdale  had  with  much  pains  prepared 
an  assembly  to  elect  young  Mr.  Robertson  into  the  Procura 
tor's  chair,  and  to  get  Dr.  Drysdale  chosen  Principal  Clerk 
to  the  Assembly,  as  colleague  and  successor  to  Dr.  George 
Wishart,  it  was  necessary  that  Dr.  Wishart  should  resign,  in 
order  to  his  being  re-elected  with  Drysdale  ;  but  this,  when 
first  applied  to,  he  positively  refused  to  do,  because  he  had 
given  his  word  to  Dr.  Dick  that  he  would  give  him  a  year's 
warning  before  he  resigned.  In  spite  of  this  declaration  a 
siege  was  laid  to  the  honest  man  by  amazons.  After  several 
hearings,  in  which  female  eloquence  was  displayed  in  all  its 
forms,  and  after  many  days,  he  yielded,  as  he  said  himself,  to 
the  earnest  and  violent  solicitations  of  Dr.  Drysdale's  family. 
He  never  after  had  any  intercourse  with  that  family,  nor  saw 
them  more.  Mr.  James  Lindsay  told  me  this  anecdote. 

Dr.  Robertson's  weakness  was  as  follows  :    He  had  engaged 
heartily  with  me,  when  in   1788   I  stood  candidate  for  the 


DR.   EOBERTSON.  235 

clerkship,  Dr.  Drysdale  having  shown  evident  marks  of  de 
cline.  In  the  year  1787,  I  had  a  long  evening's  walk  with 
the  Procurator,  when,  after  mentioning  every  candidate  for 
that  office  we  could  think  of,  the  Procurator  at  last  said  that 
nobody  had  such  a  good  chance  as  myself.  After  a  long  dis 
cussion  I  yielded,  and  we  in  due  form  communicated  this  reso 
lution  to  his  father,  who  consented  with  all  his  heart,  and  gave 
us  much  advice  and  some  aid.  When  the  vacancy  happened, 
in  1789,  Robert  Adam  assisted  his  brother-in-law  with  all  his 
interest,  which  was  considerable.  In  the  mean  time  the  same 
influence  was  used  with  Dr.  Robertson  as  had  been  with  Dr. 
Wishart,  in  a  still  more  formidable  shape  ;  for  Mrs.  Drysdale 
was  his  cousin-german,  and  threatened  him  with  the  eternal 
hate  of  all  the  family.  He  also  yielded  ;  and  Robert  Adam, 
when  seriously  pressed  with  a  view  to  drop  his  canvass  if 
Robertson  advised  to  —  "  No,"  Robertson  said,  "  go  on  ;  "  as 
he  thought  he  had  the  best  chance.  Robert  Adam  told  this  to 
Professor  Ferguson  when  he  solicited  his  vote. 

Robertson's  conversation  was  not  always  so  prudent  as  his 
conduct,  one  instance  of  which  was  his  always  asserting  that 
any  minister  of  state  who  did  not  take  care  of  himself  when 
he  had  an  opportunity  was  no  very  wise  man.  This  maxim 
shocked  most  young  people,  who  thought  the  Doctor's  standard 
of  public  virtue  was  not  very  high.  This  manner  of  talking 
likewise  seconded  a  notion  that  prevailed  that  he  was  a  very 
selfish  man.  With  all  those  defects,  his  domestic  society  was 
pleasing  beyond  measure  ;  for  his  wife,  though  not  a  woman 
of  parts,  was  well  suited  to  him,  who  was  more  fitted  to  lead 
than  to  be  lead  ;  and  his  sons  and  daughters  led  so  happy  a 
life  that  his  guests,  which  we  were  often  for  a  week  together, 
met  with  nothing  but  welcome,  and  peace,  and  joy.  This  in 
tercourse  was  not  much  diminished  by  his  having  not  put  any 
confidence  in  me  when  he  left  the  business  of  the  Church, 


236  DR.   BLAIR. 

further  than  saying  that  he  intended  to  do  it.  Though  he 
knew  that  I  was  much  resorted  to  for  advice  when  he  retired, 
he  never  talked  to  me  on  the  subject,  at  which  I  was  some 
what  indignant.  His  deviations  in  politics  lessened  the  free 
dom  of  our  conversation,  though  we  still  continued  in  good 
habits  ;  but  ever  after  he  left  the  leading  in  Church  affairs,  he 
appeared  to  me  to  have  lost  his  spirits  ;  and  still  more,  when 
the  magistrates  resorted  to  Dr.  Blair,  instead  of  him,  for  ad 
vice  about  their  choice  of  professors  and  ministers.  I  had 
discovered  his  having  sacrificed  me  to  Mrs.  Drysdale,  in  1789, 
but  was  long  acquainted  with  his  weaknesses,  and  forgave 
him  ;  nor  did  I  ever  upbraid  him  with  it  but  in  general  terms, 
such  as  that  I  had  lost  the  clerkship  by  the  keenness  of  my 
opponents  and  the  coldness  of  my  friends.  I  had  such  a  con- 
cious  superiority  over  him  in  that  affair  that  I  did  not  choose 
to  put  an  old  friend  to  the  trial  of  making  his  fault  greater  by 
a  lame  excuse. 

Dr.  Blair  was  a  different  kind  of  man  from  Robertson,  and 
his  character  is  very  justly  delineated  by  Dr.  Finlayson,  so 
far  as  he  goes.  Robertson  was  most  sagacious.,  Blair  was 
most  naif.  Neither  of  them  could  be  said  to  have  either  wit 
or  humor.  Of  the  latter  Robertson  had  a  small  tincture  — 
Blair  had  hardly  a  relish  for  it.  Robertson  had  a  bold  and 
ambitious  mind,  and  a  strong  desire  to  make  himself  consider 
able  ;  Blair  was  timid  and  unambitious,  and  withheld  himself 
from  public  business  of  every  kind,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
wish  but  to  be  admired  as  a  preacher,  particularly  by  the 
ladies.  His  conversation  was  so  infantine  that  many  people 
thought  it  impossible,  at  first  sight,  that  he  could  be  a  man  of 
sense  or  genius.  He  was  as  eager  about  a  new  paper  to  his 
wife's  drawing-room,  or  his  own  new  wig,  as  about  a  new 
tragedy  or  a  new  epic  poem.  Not  long  before  his  death  I 
called  upon  him,  when  I  found  him  restless  and  fidgety. 


DR.   BLAIR.  237 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you  to-day,"  says  I,  "  my  good 
friend  —  are  you  well  ?  "  "0  yes,"  says  he,  "  but  I  must 
dress  myself,  for  the  Duchess  of  Leinster  has  ordered  her 
granddaughters  not  to  leave  Scotland  without  seeing  me." 
"  Go  and  dress  yourself,  Doctor,  and  I  shall  read  this  novel ; 
for  I  am  resolved  to  see  the  Duchess  of  Leinster's  grand 
daughters,  for  I  knew  their  father  and  grandfather."  This 
being  settled,  the  young  ladies,  with  their  governess,  arrived 
at  one,  and  turned  out  poor  little  girls  of  twelve  and  thirteen, 
who  could  hardly  be  supposed  to  carry  a  well-turned  compli 
ment  which  the  Doctor  gave  them  in  charge  to  their  grand 
mother. 

Robertson  had  so  great  a  desire  to  shine  himself,  that  I 
hardly  ever  saw  him  patiently  bear  anybody  else's  showing- 
off  but  Dr.  Johnson  and  Garrick.  Blair,  on  the  contrary, 
though  capable  of  the  most  profound  conversation,  when  cir 
cumstances  led  to  it,  had  not  the  least  desire  to  shine,  but  was 
delighted  beyond  measure  to  show  other  people  in  their  best 
guise  to  his  friends.  "  Did  not  I  show  you  the  lion  well  to 
day  ? "  used  he  to  say  after  the  exhibition  of  a  remarkable 
stranger.  For  a  vain  man,  he  was  the  least  envious  I  ever 
knew.  He  had  truly  a  pure  mind,  in  which  there  was  not  the 
least  malignity  ;  for  though  he  was  of  a  quick  and  lively  tem 
per,  and  apt  to  be  warm  and  impatient  about  trifles,  his  wife, 
who  was  a  superior  woman,  only  laughed,  and  his  friends 
joined  her.  Though  Robertson  was  never  ruffled,  he  had 
more  animosity  in  his  nature  than  Blair.  They  were  both 
reckoned  selfish  by  those  who  envied  their  prosperity,  but  on 
very  unequal  grounds ;  for  though  Blair  talked  selfishly  enough 
sometimes,  yet  he  never  failed  in  generous  actions.  In  one 
respect  they  were  quite  alike.  Having  been  bred  at  a  time 
when  the  common  people  thought  to  play  with  cards  or  dice 
was  a  sin,  and  everybody  thought  it  an  indecorum  in  clergy- 


238  DR.   BLAIR. 

men,  they  could  neither  of  them  play  at  golf  or  bowls,  and  far 
less  at  cards  or  backgammon,  and  on  that  account  were  very 
unhappy  when  from  home  in  friends'  houses  in  the  country  in 
rainy  weather.  As  I  had  set  the  first  example  of  playing  at 
cards  at  home  with  unlocked  doors,  and  so  relieved  the  clergy 
from  ridicule  on  that  side,  they  bt)th  learned  to  play  at  whist 
after  they  were  sixty.  Robertson  did  very  well  —  Blair  never 
shone.  He  had  his  country  quarters  for  two  summers  in  my 
parish,  where  he  and  his  wife  were  quite  happy.  We  were 
much  together.  Mrs.  C.,  who  had  wit  and  humor  in  a  high 
degree,  and  an  acuteness  and  extent  of  mind  that  made  her 
fit  to  converse  with  philosophers,  and  indeed  a  great  favorite 
with  them  all,  gained  much  upon  Blair ;  and,  as  Mrs.  B. 
alleged,  could  make  him  believe  whatever  she  pleased.  They 
took  delight  in  raising  the  wonder  of  the  sage  Doctor.  "  Who 
told  you  that  story,  my  dear  Doctor  ?  "  "  No,"  says  he,  "  don't 
you  doubt  it,  for  it  was  Mrs.  C.  who  told  me."  On  my  laugh 
ing — "and  so,  so,v  said  he,  "I  must  hereafter  make  allowance 
for  her  imagination." 

Blair  had  lain  under  obligation  to  Lord  Leven's  family  for 
his  first  church,  Avhich  he  left  within  the  year ;  but  though 
that  connection  was  so  soon  dissolved,  and  though  Blair  took 
a  side  in  Church  politics  wholly  opposite  to  Lord  Leven's,  the 
Doctor  always  behaved  to  the  family  with  great  respect,  and 
kept  up  a  visiting  correspondence  with  them  all  his  life.  Not 
so  Robertson  with  the  Arniston  family,  who  had  got  him  the 
church  of  Gladsmuir.  The  first  President  failed  and  died  — 
not,  however,  till  he  had  marked  his  approbation  of  Robert 
son —  in  1751.  His  manner  had  not  been  pleasing  to  him,  so 
that  he  was  alienated  till  Harry  grew  up ;  but  him  he  deserted 
also,  on  the  change  in  1782,  being  dazzled  with  the  prospect 
of  his  son's  having  charge  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  as  his  cousin 
John  Adam  was  to  have  of  political,  during  Rockingham's  new 


DR.   BLATE.  239 

ministry.  This  threw  a  cloud  on  Robertson  which  was  never 
dispelled  Blair  had  for  a  year  been  tutor  to  Simon  Fraser, 
Lord  Lovat's  eldest  son,  whose  steady  friendship  he  preserved 
to  the  last,  though  the  General  was  not  remarkable  for  that 
amiable  weakness  ;  witness  the  saying  of  a  common  soldier 
whom  he  had  often  promised  to  make  a  sergeant,  but  never 
performed,  "O  Simon,  Simon,  as  long  as  you  continue  to 
live,  Lord  Lovat  is  not  dead." 

Five  or  six  days  before  he  [Blair]  died,  finding  him  well 
and  in  good  spirits,  I  said  to  him,  "  Since  you  don't  choose  to 
dine  abroad  in  this  season  (December),  you  may  at  least  let  a 
friend  or  two  dine  with  you."  "  Well,  well,  come  you  and 
dine  with  me  to-morrow,"  looking  earnestly  at  Miss  Hunter, 
his  niece.  "  I  am  engaged  to-morrow,  but  I  can  return  at  four 
to-day."  He  looked  more  earnestly  at  his  niece.  "  What  's 
to  hinder  him  ?  "  said  she,  meaning  to  answer  his  look,  which 
said,  "  Have  you  any  dinner  to-day,  Betty  ?  "  I  returned,  ac 
cordingly,  at  four,  and  never  passed  four  hours  more  agree 
ably  with  him,  nor  had  more  enlightened  conversation.  Nay 
more,  three  days  before  his  death  he  sent  to  John  Home  a 
part  of  his  History,  with  two  or  three  pages  of  criticism  on 
that  part  of  it  that  relates  to  Provost  Drummond,  in  which  he 
and  I  thought  John  egregiously  wrong. 

It  was  long  before  Blair's  circumstances  were  full,  yet  he 
lived  handsomely,  and  had  literary  strangers  at  his  house,  as 
well  as  many  friends.  A  task  imposed  on  both  Robertson  and 
Blair  was  reading  manuscript  prepared  for  the  press,  of  which 
Blair  had  the  greatest  share  of  the  poetry,  and  Robertson  of 
the  other  writings,  and  they  were  both  kind  encouragers  of 
young  men  of  merit. 

In  John  Home's  younger  days  he  had  a  good  share  of  wit, 
much  sprightliness  and  vivacity,  so  that  he  infused  joy  and  a 
social  exhilaration  wherever  he  came.  His  address  was  cor- 


240  JOHN  HOME. 

dial  and  benevolent,  which  inspired  his  companions  with  simi 
lar  sentiments.  Superior  knowledge  and  learning,  except  in 
the  department  of  poetry,  he  had  not,  but  such  was  the  charm 
of  his  fine  spirits  in  those  days,  that  when  he  left  the  room 
prematurely,  which  was  but  seldom  the  case,  the  company 
grew  dull,  and  soon  dissolved.  As  John  all  his  life  had  a 
thorough  contempt  for  such  as  neglected  or  disapproved  of  his 
poetry,  he  treated  all  who  approved  of  his  works  with  a  par 
tiality  which  more  than  approached  to  flattery.  The  effect  of 
this  temper  was,  that  all  his  opinions  of  men  and  things  were 
prejudices,  which,  though  it  did  not  disqualify  him  for  writing 
admirable  poetry,  yet  made  him  unfit  for  writing  history  or 
other  prose  works.  He  was  in  no  respect  a  man  of  business, 
though  he  now  and  then  spoke  with  some  energy  and  success 
in  the  General  Assembly ;  but  he  had  no  turn  for  debate, 
which  made  me  glad  when  he  was  disappointed  in  his  wish  of 
obtaining  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  which  was  owing 
to  the  good  sense  of  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  and  Sir  William  Pul- 
teney. 

This  has  been  a  long  digression  from  my  narration  ;  but 
having  noted  down  one  character,  I  thought  it  best  to  go  on 
with  a  few  more,  lest  I  should  forget  some  particulars  which 
then  occurred  to  me. 

It  was  in  the  year  1754  that  my  cousin,  Captain  Lyon, 
died  at  London,  of  a  high  fever.  His  wife,  Lady  Catherine 
Bridges,  had  conducted  herself  so  very  loosely  and  ill,  that  it 
was  suspected  that  she  wished  for  his  death  ;  but  it  was  a 
brain  fever  of  which  he  died ;  and  as  his  wife  had  sent  for 
Dr.  Monro,  the  physician  employed  about  the  insane,  his 
mother,  in  the  rage  of  her  grief,  alleged  that  his  wife  had 
occasioned  his  death.  Her  two  children  died  not  long  after. 
Lady  Catherine  confirmed  all  her  mother-in-law's  suspicions 
by  marrying  a  Mr.  Stanhope,  one  of  her  many  lovers.  By 


THE  SELECT  SOCIETY.  241 

this  time  a  large  fortune  had  fallen  to  her.  She  was  truly  a 
worthless  woman,  to  my  knowledge.  Lyon  and  his  children 
were  buried  in  the  Duke  of  Chandos's  vault  at  Canons,  by  His 
Grace's  order. 

In  this  year,  1754,  I  remember  nothing  remarkable  in  the 
General  Assembly.  But  this  was  the  year  in  which  the  Select 
Society  was  established,  which  improved  and  gave  a  name  to 
the  literati  of  this  country,  then  beginning  to  distinguish  them 
selves.  I  gave  an  account  of  this  institution,  and  a  list  of  the 
members,  to  Dugald  Stuart,  which  he  inserted  in  his  Life  of 
Robertson.  But  that  list  did  not  contain  the  whole  of  the 
members ;  some  had  died  before  the  list  was  printed,  and 
some  were  admitted  after  it  was  printed.  Of  the  first  were 
Lord  Dalmeny,  the  elder  brother  of  the  present  Lord  Rose- 
bery,  who  was  a  man  of  letters  and  an  amateur,  and,  though 
he  did  not  speak  himself,  generally  carried  home  six  or  eight 
of  those  who  did  to  sup  with  him.  There  was  also  a  Peter 
Duff,  a  writer  to  the  signet,  who  was  a  shrewd,  sensible  fel 
low,  and  pretending  to  be  unlearned,  surprised  us  with  his 
observations  in  strong  Buchan.*  The  Duke  of  Hamilton  of 
that  period,  a  man  of  letters,  could  he  have  kept  himself  sober, 
was  also  a  member,  and  spoke  there  one  night.  Lord  Dal 
meny  died  in  1755.  Mr.  Robert  Alexander,  wine  merchant, 
a  very  worthy  man,  but  a  bad  speaker,  entertained  us  all  with 
warm  suppers  and  excellent  claret,  as  a  recompense  for  the 
patient  hearing  of  his  ineffectual  attempts,  when  I  often  thought 
he  would  have  beat  out  his  brains  on  account  of  their  consti 
pation.  The  conversation  at  those  convivial  meetings  fre 
quently  improved  the  members  more  by  free  conversation 
than  the  speeches  in  the  Society.  It  was  those  meetings  in 
particular  that  rubbed  off  all  corners,  as  we  call  it,  by  col- 

*  Viz.,  with  the  accent  peculiar  to  the  district  of  Buchan,  in  Aberdeen- 
shire.  —  ED. 

11  P 


242  SKETCHES  AND  INCIDENTS. 

lision,  and  made  the  literati  of  Edinburgh  less  captious  and 
pedantic  than  they  were  elsewhere. 

The  Earl  of  Hopetoun  was  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Assembly.  The  Earl  of  Dumfries  had  wished  for  it;  but 
some  of  the  ministers,  thinking  that  it  would  be  proper  to 
disappoint  him,  by  a  little  intrigue,  contrived  to  get  the  King 
to  nominate  Hopetoun,  who  accepted  it  for  one  year,  and  en 
tertained  his  company  in  a  sumptuous  manner.  At  his  table 
I  saw  the  Duchess  of  Hamilton  (Mary  Gunning),  without 
doubt  the  most  beautiful  woman  of  her  time. 

In  the  end  of  summer,  Lady  Dalkeith,  the  Duke  of  Buc- 
cleuch's  mother,  who  had  been  a  widow  since  the  year  1750, 
came  to  Dalkeith,  and  brought  with  her  the  Honorable  Mr. 
Stuart  M'Kenzie  and  his  lady,  the  Countess's  sister,  and  re 
mained  there  for  two  months.  They  had  public  days  twice  in 
the  week,  and  I  frequently  dined  there.  The  Countess  was 
well-bred  and  agreeable  ;  and,  acting  plays  being  the  rage  at 
the  time  among  people  of  quality,  she  proposed  to  act  a  trag 
edy  at  Dalkeith  House,  viz.  "  The  Fair  Penitent,"  in  which 
her  ladyship  and  Mr.  M'Kenzie  were  to  have  principal  parts. 
Mr.  John  Grant,  advocate,  then  chief  manager  of  the  Duke 
of  Buccleuch's  estates,  and  living  at  Castlesteads,  was  to  play 
the  part  of  the  father,  and  it  was  requested  of  me  to  assist 
him  in  preparing  his  part.  I  found  him  a  stiff,  bad  reader,  of 
affected  English,  which  we  call  napping,  and  tolerably  obsti 
nate.  But  luckily  for  both  master  and  scholar,  the  humor  was 
soon  changed,  by  somebody  representing  to  her  ladyship  that 
her  acting  plays  would  give  offence.  Mr.  M'Kenzie  was  very 
agreeable,  his  vanity  having  carried  him  so  far  above  his 
family  pride  as  to  make  him  wish  to  please  his  inferiors.  I 
was  simple  enough  then  to  think  that  my  conversation  and 
manners  had  not  been  disagreeable  to  him,  so  that  when  I 
was  at  London  four  years  after,  I  attempted  to  avail  myself 


SKETCHES   AND   INCIDENTS.  243 

of  his  acquaintance  ;  but  it  would  not  do,  for  I  was  chilled  to 
death  on  my  first  approach,  so  that  all  my  intimacy  vanished  in 
a  few  jokes,  which  sometimes  he  condescended  to  make  when 
he  met  me  on  the  streets,  and  which  I  received  with  the  cold 
ness  they  were  entitled  to. 

By  this  time  John  Home  had  almost  finished  his  tragedy  of 
Douglas  ;  for  on  one  of  the  days  that  I  was  at  Dalkeith  House 
I  met  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  who,  on  my  telling  him  that  I  had 
three  acts  of  it  written  in  my  hand,  came  round  with  me  to 
my  house  in  Musselburgh,  where  I  read  them,  to  his  great  de 
light.  This  was  in  July  or  August,  1754.  I  do  not  remem 
ber  whether  or  not  he  saw  the  two  last  acts  at  this  time  —  I 
should  think  not ;  for  I  remember  that  I  wrote  three  acts  of 
it  a  good  many  months  afterwards,  to  be  sent  up  suddenly  to 
Sir  Gilbert,  while  a  writer's  clerk  wrote  out  fair  the  other  two 
acts. 

In  February  of  this  year  Home  and  I  suffered  severely  by 
the  death  of  friends.  George  Logan,  minister  of  Ormiston, 
was  seized  with  a  brain  fever,  of  which  he  died  in  a  few  days. 
I  was  sent  for  by  his  wife,  and  remained  by  his  bedside  from 
five  in  the  afternoon  till  one  in  the  morning,  when  he  expired. 
He  raved  the  whole  time,  except  during  the  few  minutes  in 
which  I  prayed  with  him.  I  am  not  sure  that  he  knew,  for 
he  soon  relapsed  into  his  ravings  again,  and  never  ceased  till 
the  great  silencer  came.  I  have  given  the  character  of  his 
mind  before  (p.  208).  The  grief  of  his  wife,  who  never  could 
be  comforted,  though  she  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  was  a 
proof  of  his  kind  and  affectionate  temper.  They  had  no 
children. 

After'  my  friend's  death  I  had  returned  home  on  Sunday 
morning  to  do  duty  in  Inveresk  church,  and  in  the  evening 
about  six,  John  Home,  to  whom  I  had  sent  an  express,  ar 
rived  from  Polwarth.  On  hearing  the  bad  news,  he  had 


244  SKETCHES  AND  INCIDENTS. 

almost  fainted,  and  threw  himself  on  the  bed,  and  sobbed  and 
wept.  After  a  while  I  raised  him,  by  asking  him  if  he  could 
think  of  no  misfortune  greater  than  the  death  of  Logan  ?  He 
started  up,  and  cried,  "  Is  my  brother  David  gone  ?  "  I  had 
received  an  express  from  his  brother  George,  in  Leith,  that 
afternoon,  to  tell  me  of  their  brother  David's  death  on  the 
voyage.  He  was  John's  only  uterine  brother  alive  —  had 
been  at  home  the  autumn  before  —  and  was  truly  a  fine-spir 
ited,  promising  young  man.  He  had  gone  out  that  fall  first 
mate  of  an  Indiaman.  After  another  short  paroxysm  of 
grief — for  his  stock  was  almost  spent  before  —  he  rose  and 
took  his  supper,  and,  insisting  on  my  making  a  good  bowl  of 
punch,  we  talked  over  the  perfections  of  the  deceased,  went  to 
bed  and  slept  sound.  In  the  morning  he  was  taken  up  with 
the  suit  of  mourning  he  was  going  to  order,  and  for  which  he 
went  to  Edinburgh  on  purpose.  I  mention  these  circum 
stances  to  show  that  there  are  very  superior  minds  on  which 
the  loss  of  friends  makes  very  little  impression.  He  was  not 
likely  to  feel  more  on  any  future  occasion  than  on  this  ;  for  as 
people  grow  older,  not  only  experience  hardens  them  to  such 
events,  but,  growing  daily  more  selfish,  they  feel  less  for  other 
people. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1755,  John  Home's  tragedy  of 
Douglas  was  completely  prepared  for  the  stage,  and  had  re 
ceived  all  the  corrections  and  improvements  that  it  needed  by 
many  excellent  critics,  who  were  Mr.  Home's  friends,  whom  I 
have  mentioned  before,  and  with  whom  he  daily  lived.  [He 
accordingly  set  out  for  London,  and]  were  I  to  relate  all  the 
circumstances,  serious  and  ludicrous,  which  attended  the  outset 
of  this  journey,  I  am  persuaded  they  would  not  be  exceeded 
by  any  novelist  who  has  wrote  since  the  days  of  the  inimitable 
Don  Quixote.  Six  or  seven  Merse  ministers  —  the  half  of 
whom  had  slept  at  the  manse  of  Polwarth,  bad  as  it  was,  the 


CLERGYMEN  ON  A  RAMBLE.  245 

night  before  —  set  out  for  Woolerhaughhead  in  a  snowy  morn 
ing  in  February.  Before  we  had  gone  far  we  discovered  that 
our  bard  had  no  mode  of  carrying  his  precious  treasure,  which 
we  thought  enough  of,  but  hardly  foresaw  that  it  was  to  be 
pronounced  a  perfect  tragedy  by  the  best  judges ;  for  when 
David  Hume  gave  it  that  praise,  he  spoke  only  the  sentiment 
of  the  whole  republic  of  belles  lettres.  The  tragedy  in  one 
pocket  of  his  great-coat,  and  his  clean  shirt  and  nightcap  in  the 
other,  though  they  balanced  each  other,  was  thought  an  unsafe 
mode  of  conveyance ;  and  our  friend  —  who,  like  most  of  his 
brother  poets,  was  unapt  to  foresee  difficulties  and  provide 
against  them  —  had  neglected  to  buy  a  pair  of  leather  bags  as 
he  passed  through  Hadclington.  We  bethought  us  that  possi 
bly  James  Landreth,  minister  of  Simprin,  and  clerk  of  the 
Synod,  would  be  provided  with  such  a  convenience  for  the 
carriage  of  his  Synod  records  ;  and  having  no  wife,  no  atra 
cura,  to  resist  our  request,  we  unanimously  turned  aside  half 
a  mile  to  call  at  James's  ;  and,  concealing  our  intention  at  first, 
we  easily  persuaded  the  honest  man  to  join  us  in  this  convoy 
to  his  friend  Mr.  Home,  and  then  observing  the  danger  the 
manuscript  might  run  in  a  great-coat  pocket  on  a  journey  of 
400  miles,  we  inquired  if  he  could  lend  Mr.  Home  his  valise 
only  as  far  as  Wooler,  where  he  would  purchase  a  new  pair 
for  himself.  This  he  very  cheerfully  granted.  But  while  his 
pony  was  preparing,  he  had  another  trial  to  go  through  ;  for 
Cupples,  who  never  had  any  money,  though  he  was  a  bachelor 
too,  and  had  twice  the  stipend  of  Landreth,  took  the  latter  into 
another  room,  where  the  conference  lasted  longer  than  we 
wished  for,  so  that  we  had  to  bawl  out  for  them  to  come  away. 
We  afterwards  understood  that  Cupples,  having  only  four 
shillings,  was  pressing  Landreth  to  lend  him  half  a  guinea, 
that  he  might  be  able  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  journey. 
Honest  James,  who  knew  that  John  Home,  if  he  did  not  re- 


246  CLERGYMEN  ON  A  RAMBLE. 

turn  his  own  valise,  which  was  very  improbable,  would  pro 
vide  him  in  a  better  pair,  had  frankly  agreed  to  the  first  re 
quest  ;  but  as  he  knew  Cupples  never  paid  anything,  he  was 
very  reluctant  to  part  with  his  half-guinea.  However,  having 
at  last  agreed,  we  at  last  set  out,  and  I  think  gallant  troops, 
but  so-and-so  accoutred,  to  make  an  inroad  on  the  English 
border.  By  good  luck  the  river  Tweed  was  not  come  down, 
and  we  crossed  it  safely  at  the  ford  near  Norham  Castle  ;  and, 
as  the  day  mended,  we  got  to  Wbolerhaughhead  by  four  o'clock, 
where  we  got  but  an  indifferent  dinner,  for  it  was  but  a  miser 
able  house  in  those  days  ;  but  a  happier  or  more  jocose  and 
merry  company  could  hardly  be  assembled. 

John  Home  and  I,  who  slept  in  one  room,  or  perhaps  in  one 
bed,  as  was  usual  in  those  days,  were  disturbed  by  a  noise  in 
the  night,  which  being  in  the  next  room,  where  Laurie  and 
Monteith  were,  we  found  they  had  quarrelled  and  fought,  and 
the  former  had  pushed  the  latter  out  of  bed.  After  having 
acted  as  mediators  in  this  quarrel,  we  had  sound  sleep  till 
morning.  Having  breakfasted  as  well  as  the  house  could 
afford,  Cupples  and  I,  who  had  agreed  to  go  two  days'  journey 
further  with  Mr.  Home,  set  off  southwards  with  him,  and  the 
rest  returned  by  the  way  they  had  come  to  Berwickshire 
again. 

Mr.  Home  had  by  that  time  got  a  very  fine  galloway  from 
his  friend  Robert  Adam  when  he  was  setting  out  for  Italy. 
John  had  called  this  horse  Piercy,  who,  though  only  fourteen 
and  a  half  hands  high,  was  one  of  the  best  trotters  ever  seen, 
and  having  a  good  deal  of  blood  in  him,  when  he  was  well 
used,  was  indefatigable.  He  carried  our  bard  for  many  years 
with  much  classical  fame,  and  rose  in  reputation  with  his  mas 
ter,  but  at  last  made  an  inglorious  end.*  I  had  a  fine  gajlo- 

*  Piercy' s  end.  —  Robert  Adam,  on  his  setting  out  for  London  to  go  to 
Italy,  and  some  of  his  brothers,  with  John,  and  Commissioner  Cardonnel, 


CLERGYMEN   ON  A  RAMBLE.  247 

way  too,  though  not  more  than  thirteen  and  a*  half  hands, 
which,  though  much  slower  than  Piercy,  easily  went  at  the 
rate  of  fifty  miles  a  day,  on  the  turnpike  road,  without  being 
at  all  tired. 

Cupples  and  I  attended  Home  as  far  as  Ferryhill,  about  six 
miles,  where,  after  remaining  all  night  with  him,  we  parted 
next  morning,  he  for  London,  and  we  on  our  return  home. 
Poor  Home  had  no  better  success  on  this  occasion  than  before, 
with  still  greater  mortification ;  for  Garrick,  after  reading  the 
play,  returned  it  with  an  opinion  that  it  was  totally  unfit  for 
the  stage.  On  this  occasion  Home  wrote  a  pathetic  copy  of 
verses,  addressed  to  Shakespeare's  image  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

Cupples  and  I  had  a  diverting  journey  back ;  for  as  his 
money  had  failed,  and  I  had  not  an  overflow,  we  were  obliged 
to  feed  our  horses  in  Newcastle  without  dining,  and  to  make 
the  best  of  our  way  to  Morpeth,  where  we  got  an  excellent 
hot  supper.  Next  day,  staying  too  long  in  Alnwick  to  visit 
the  castle,  we  lost  our  way  in  the  night,  and  were  in  some 

had  dined  with  me  one  day.  Cardonnel,  while  their  horses  were  getting 
ready,  insisted  on  our  going  to  his  garden  to  drink  a  couple  of  bottles  of 
some  French  white  wine,  which  he  said  was  as  good  as  champagne.  We 
went  with  him,  but  when  we  sat  down  in  his  arbor  we  missed  Bob  Adam. 
We  soon  finished  our  wine,  which  we  drank  out  of  rummers,  and  returned 
to  the  manse,  where  we  found  Robert  galloping  round  the  green  on  Piercy 
like  a  madman,  which  he  repeated,  after  seeing  us,  for  at  least  ten  times. 
Home  stopped  him,  and  had  some  talk  with  him;  so  the  brothers  at  last 
went  off  quietly  for  Edinburgh,  while  Home  remained  to  stay  all  night  or 
go  home.  He  told  me  what  put  Robert  into  such  trim.  He  had  been  mak 
ing  love  to  my  maid  Jenny,  who  was  a  handsome  lass,  and  had  even  gone 
the  length  of  offering  to  carry  her  to  London,  and  pension  her  there.  All 
his  offers  were  rejected,  which  had  put  him  in  a  flurry.  This  happened  in 
summer  1754.  Many  a  time  Piercy  carried  John  to  London,  and  once  in 
six  days.  He  sent  him  at  last  to  Sir  David  Kinloch,  that  he  might  end  hif 
days  in  peace  and  ease  in  one  of  the  parks  of  Gilmerton.  Sir  David  tire< 
of  him  in  a  few  weeks,  and  sold  him  to  an  egg-carrier  for  twenty  shillings ! 


248  CLERGYMEN   ON  A  RAMBLE. 

hazard,  and  it  was  past  twelve  before  we  reached  Berwick ; 
but  in  those  days  nothing  came  wrong  to  us  —  youth  and 
good  spirits  made  us  convert  all  maladventures  into  fun.  The 
Virgin's  Inn,  as  it  was  called,  being  at  that  time  the  best,  and 
on  the  south  side  of  the  bridge,  made  us  forget  all  our  disas 
ters. 

It  was  in  the  time  of  the  sitting  of  the  General  Assembly 
that  Lord  Drummore  died,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  He  had 
gone  the  Western  Circuit ;  and  by  drying  up  an  issue  in 
his  leg,  being  a  corpulent  man  who  needed  such  a  drain,  he 
contracted  a  gangrene,  of  which  he  died  in  a  few  weeks,  very 
much  regretted  —  more,  indeed,  than  any  man  I  ever  knew. 
His  having  got  a  legacy  from  *  the  year  before, 

and  built  himself  a  comfortable  house  on  his  small  estate, 
where  he  only  had  a  cottage  before,  and  where  he  had  slept 
only  two  or  three  nights  for  his  illness,  was  a  circumstance 
that  made  his  family  and  friends  feel  it  the  more.  He  had 
been  married  to  an  advocate's  daughter  of  Aberdeenshire, 
of  the  name  of  Home,  by  whom  a  good  estate  came  into  his 
family.  By  her  he  had  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  Three 
of  the  sons  in  succession  inherited  the  name  and  estate  of 
Home. 

After  Lord  Drummore  became  a  widower,  he  attached  him 
self  to  a  mistress,  which,  to  do  so  openly  as  he  did,  was  at 
that  time  reckoned  a  great  indecorum,  at  least  in  one  of  his 
age  and  reverend  office.  This  was  all  that  could  be  laid  to 
his  charge,  which,  however,  did  not  abate  the  universal  con 
cern  of  the  city  and  county  when  he  was  dying.  His  cousin, 
Lord  Cathcart,  was  Commissioner  that  year  for  the  first  time. 
His  eldest  son  at  his  death  was  Lieutenant-General  Home 
Dalrymple;  his  second,  David  Dalrymple,  some  time  after 
wards  Lord  Westhall ;  his  youngest,  Campbell,  who  was  ois- 

*  Blank  in  MS. 


POLITICS.  —  THE  WAR.  249 

tinguished  afterwards  in  the  West  Indies,  and  was  a  lieu 
tenant-colonel  and  Governor  of  Guadaloupe. 

At  my  father's  desire,  who  was  minister  of  the  parish  where 
Drummore  resided,  I  wrote  a  character  of  him,  which  he 
delivered  from  his  pulpit  the  Sunday  after  his  funeral.  This 
was  printed  in  the  Scots  Magazine  for  June,  1755,  and  was 
commended  by  the  publisher,  and  well  received  by  the  public. 
This  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen  my  prose  in  print,  and  it 
gave  me  some  confidence  in  my  own  talent. 

In  the  year  1756  hostilities  were  begun  between  the  French 
and  British,  after  they  had  given  us  much  provocation  in 
America.  Braddock,  an  officer  of  the  Guards  —  very  brave, 
though  unfit  for  the  business  on  which  he  was  sent  —  having 
been  defeated  and  slain  at  Fort  Du  Quesne  (a  misfortune 
afterwards  repaired  by  General  John  Forbes),  reprisals  were 
made  by  the  capture  of  French  ships  without  a  declaration  of 
war.  The  French  laid  siege  to  Minorca,  and  Admiral  Byng 
was  sent  with  a  fleet  of  thirteen  ships  of  the  line  to  throw  in 
succors  and  raise  the  siege.  The  expectation  of  the  country 
was  raised  very  high  on  this  occasion,  and  yet  was  disap 
pointed. 

Concerning  this  I  remember  a  very  singular  anecdote. 
During  the  sitting  of  the  General  Assembly  that  year,  by 
desire  of  James  Lindsay,  a  company  of  seven  or  eight,  all 
clergymen,  supped  at  a  punch-house  in  the  Bow,  kept  by  an 
old  servant  of  his,  who  had  also  been  with  George  Wishart. 
In  that  time  of  sanguine  hopes  of  a  complete  victory,  and  the 
total  defeat  of  the  French  fleet,  all  the  company  expressed 
their  full  belief  that  the  next  post  would  bring  us  great  news, 
except  John  Home  alone,  who  persisted  in  saying  that  there 
would  be  no  battle  at  all,  or,  at  the  best,  if  there  was  a  battle, 
it  would  be  a  drawn  one.  John's  obstinacy  provoked  the 
company,  in  so  much  that  James  Landreth,  the  person  who 
11* 


250  THE  CARRIERS'  INN. 

had  lent  him  the  valise  the  year  before,  offered  to  lay  an  half- 
crown  bowl  of  punch  that  the  first  mail  from  the  Mediterra 
nean  would  bring  us  the  news  of  a  complete  victory.  John 
took  this  bet ;  and,  when  he  and  I  were  walking  to  our  lodg 
ing  together,  I  asked  what  in  the  world  had  made  him  so  posi 
tive.  He  answered  that  Byng  was  a  man  who  would  shun 
fighting  if  it  were  possible ;  and  that  his  ground  of  knowledge 
was  from  Admiral  Smith,  who,  a  few  years  back,  had  com 
manded  at  Leith,  who  lodged  with  his  friend  Mr.  "Walter 
Scott,  and  who,  when  he  was  confined  with  the  gout,  used  to 
have  him  to  come  and  chat  with  him,  or  play  at  cards  when 
he  was  able ;  and  that,  talking  of  the  characters  of  different 
admirals,  he  had  told  him  that  Byng,  though  a  much-admired 
commander  and  manosuvrer  of  a  fleet,  would  shun  fighting 
whenever  he  could.  The  Gazette  soon  cleared  up  to  us  the 
truth  of  this  assertion,  though  the  first  accounts  made  it  be 
believed  that  the  French  were  defeated.  A  full  confirmation 
of  this  anecdote  I  heard  two  years  afterwards. 

It  was  during  this  Assembly  that  the  Carriers'  Inn,  in  the 
lower  end  of  the  West  Bow,  got  into  some  credit,  and  was 
called  the  Diversorium.  Thomas  Nicolson  was  the  man's 
name,  and  his  wife's  Nelly  Douglas.  They  had  been  servants 
of  Lord  Elliock's,  and  had  taken  up  this  small  inn,  in  which 
there  were  three  rooms,  and  a  stable  below  for  six  or  eight 
horses.  Thomas  was  a  confused,  rattling,  coarse  fellow;  Nelly 
was  a  comely  woman,  a  person  of  good  sense,  and  very  worthy. 
Some  of  our  companions  frequented  the  house,  and  Home  and 
I  suspected  it  was  the  handsome  landlady  who  had  attracted 
their  notice,  but  it  was  not  so.  Nelly  was  an  honest  woman, 
but  she  had  prompted  her  husband  to  lend  them  two  or  three 
guineas  on  occasions,  and  did  not  suddenly  demand  repayment. 
Home  and  I  followed  Logan,  James  Craig,  and  William  Gul- 
len,  and  were  pleased  with  the  house.  He  and  I  happening 


THE  CARRIERS'  INN.  251 

to  dine  with  Dr.  Robertson  at  his  uncle's,  who  lived  in  Pinkie 
House,  a  week  before  the  General  Assembly,  some  of  us  pro 
posed  to  order  Thomas  Nicolson  to  lay  in  twelve  dozen  of  the 
same  claret,  then  18s.  per  dozen,  from  Mr.  Scott,  wine  mer 
chant  at  Leith  —  for  in  his  house  we  proposed  to  make  our 
Assembly  parties ;  for,  being  out  of  the  way,  we  proposed  to 
have  snug  parties  of  our  own  friends.  This  was  accordingly 
executed,  but  we  could  not  be  concealed ;  for,  as  it  happens  in 
such  cases,  the  out-of-the-way  place  and  mean  house,  and  the 
attempt  to  be  private,  made  it  the  more  frequented  —  and  no 
wonder,  when  the  company  consisted  of  Robertson,  Home, 
Ferguson,  Jardine,  and  Wilkie,  with  the  addition  of  David 
Hume  and  Lord  Elibank,  the  Master  of  Ross,  and  Sir  Gilbert 
Elliot. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

1756-1758:  AGE,  34-36. 

PREPARATIONS  FOB  ACTING  THE  TRAGEDY  OB*  "  DOUGLAS  "  IN  EDIN 
BURGH. —  THE  REHEARSAL.  —  THE  SUCCESS.  —  CARLYLE  ATTENDS. — 
A  WAR  OF  PAMPHLETS.  —  REMOVED  INTO  THE  CHURCH  COURTS.  — 
THE  "  LIBEL  "  AGAINST  CARLYLE.  —  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  CONFLICT. 

—  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  COMBATANTS.  —  THE  CLERGY  OF  SCOT 
LAND  AND  THE  STAGE.  —  CONDUCT  OF  DUNDAS  AND  WEDDERBURN. 

—  HOME  AND    HIS    SUCCESS.  —  ARCHIBALD   DUKE    OF  ARGYLL  AND 
HIS  HABITS. 

IN  October,  1756,  John  Home  had  been  taken  by  Lord 
Milton's  family  to  Inverary,  to  be  introduced  to  the  Duke, 
who  was  much  taken  with  his  liveliness  and  gentlemanlike 
manners.  The  Duke's  good  opinion  made  Milton  adhere 
more  firmly  to  him,  and  assist  in  bringing  on  his  play  in  the 
end  of  that  season. 

It  was  in  the  end  of  this  year,  1756,  that  Douglas  was  first 
acted  in  Edinburgh.  Mr.  Home  had  been  unsuccessful  in 
London  the  year  before,  but  he  was  well  with  Sir  Gilbert 
Elliot,  Mr.  Oswald  of  Dunnikier,  and  had  the  favor  and  friend 
ship  of  Lord  Milton  and  all  his  family;  and  it  was  at  last 
agreed  among  them  that,  since  Garrick  could  not  yet  be  pre 
vailed  on  to  get  Douglas  acted,  it  should  be  brought  on  here ; 
for  if  it  succeeded  in  the  Edinburgh  theatre,  then  Garrick 
could  resist  no  longer. 

There  happened  to  be  a  pretty  good  set  of  players  ;  for 
Digges,  whose  relations  had  got  him  debarred  from  the  Lon- 


ACTING  OF  "DOUGLAS."  253 

don  theatres,  had  come  down  here,  and  performed  many  prin 
cipal  parts  with  success.  He  was  a  very  handsome  young 
man  at  that  time,  with  a  genteel  address.  He  had  drunk  tea 
at  Mally  Campbell's,  in  Glasgow  College,  when  he  was  an 
ensign  in  the  year  1745.  I  was  there,  and  thought  him  very 
agreeable.  He  was,  however,  a  great  profligate  and  spend 
thrift  ;  and  poltroon,  I  'm  afraid,  into  the  bargain.  He  had 
been  on  the  stage  for  some  time,  having  been  obliged  to  leave 
the  army.  Mrs.  Ward  turned  out  an  exceeding  good  Lady 
Randolph ;  Lowe  performed  Glenalvon  well ;  Mr.  Haymen 
the  Old  Shepherd,  and  Digges  himself  young  Douglas.  I  at 
tended  two  rehearsals  with  our  author,  and  Lord  Elibank,  and 
Dr.  Ferguson,  and  David  Hume,  and  was  truly  astonished  at 
the  readiness  with  which  Mrs.  Ward  conceived  the  Lady's 
character,  and  how  happily  she  delivered  it.  To  be  near 
Digges's  lodgings  in  the  Canongate,  where  the  first  rehearsals 
were  performed,  the  gentlemen  mentioned,  with  two  or  three 
more,  dined  together  at  a  tavern  in  the  Abbey  two  or  three 
times,  where  pork  griskins  being  a  favorite  dish,  this  was 
called  the  Griskin  Club,  and  excited  much  curiosity,  as  every 
thing  did  in  which  certain  people  were  concerned. 

The  play  had  unbounded  success  for  a  great  many  nights  in 
Edinburgh,  and  was  attended  by  all  the  literati  and  most  of 
the  judges,  who,  except  one  or  two,  had  not  been  in  use  to  at 
tend  the  theatre.  The  town  in  general  was  in  an  uproar  of 
exultation  that  a  Scotchman  had  written  a  tragedy  of  the  first- 
rate,  and  that  its  merit  was  first  submitted  to  their  judgment. 
There  were  a  few  opposers,  however,  among  those  who  pre 
tended  to  taste  and  literature,  who  endeavored  to  cry  down  the 
performance  in  libellous  pamphlets  and  ballads  (for  they  durst 
not  attempt  to  oppose  it  in  the  theatre  itself),  and  were  openly 
countenanced  by  Robert  Dundas  of  Arniston,  at  that  time 
Lord  Advocate,  and  all  his  minions  and  expectants.  The 


254  ACTING  OF  "DOUGLAS." 

high-flying  set  were  unanimous  against  it,  as  they  thought  it  a 
sin  for  a  clergyman  to  write  any  play,  let  it  be  ever  so  moral 
in  its  tendency.  Several  ballads  and  pamphlets  were  pub 
lished  on  our  side  in  answer  to  the  scurrilities  against  us,  one 
of  which  was  written  by  Adam  Ferguson,  and  another  by 
myself.  Ferguson's  was  mild  and  temperate ;  and,  besides 
other  arguments,  supported  the  lawfulness  and  use  of  dramatic 
writing  from  the  example  of  Scripture,  which  he  exhibited  in 
the  story  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  as  having  truly  the  effect 
of  a  dramatic  composition.  This  was  much  read  among  the 
grave  and  sober-minded,  and  converted  some,  and  confirmed 
many  in  their  belief  of  the  usefulness  of  the  stage.  Mine  was 
of  such  a  different  nature  that  many  people  read  it  at  first  as 
intended  to  ridicule  the  performance,  and  bring  it  into  con 
tempt,  for  it  was  entitled  "  An  Argument  to  prove  that  the 
Tragedy  of  Douglas  ought  to  be  publicly  burned  by  the  Hands 
of  the  Hangman."  The  zeal  and  violence  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Edinburgh,  who  had  made  enactments  and  declarations  to 
be  read  in  the  pulpit,  provoked  me  to  write  this  pamphlet, 
which,  in  the  ironical  manner  of  Swift,  contained  a  severe 
satire  on  all  our  opponents.  This  was  so  well  concealed,  how 
ever,  that  the  pamphlet  being  published  when  I  was  at  Dum 
fries,  about  the  end  of  January,  visiting  Provost  Bell,  who 
was  on  his  death-bed,  some  copies  arrived  there  by  the  carriers, 
which  being  opened  and  read  by  my  sister  and  aunt  when  I 
was  abroad,  they  conceived  it  to  be  serious,  and  that  the  trag 
edy  would  be  quite  undone,  till  Mr.  Stewart,  the  Comptroller 
of  the  Customs,  who  was  a  man  of  sense  and  reading,  came 
in,  and  who  soon  undeceived  them  and  convinced  them  that 
Douglas  was  triumphant.  This  pamphlet  had  a  great  effect 
by  elating  our  friends,  and  perhaps  more  in  exasperating  our 
enemies ;  which  was  by  no  means  softened  by  Lord  Elibank 
and  David  Hume,  &c.,  running  about  and  crying  it  up  as  the 
first  performance  the  world  had  seen  for  half  a  century. 


ACTING  OF  "  DOUGLAS."  255 

What  I  really  valued  myself  most  upon,  however,  was  half 
a  sheet,  which  I  penned  very  suddenly.  Digges  rode  out  one 
forenoon  to  me,  saying  that  he  had  come  by  Mr.  Home's  de 
sire,  to  inform  me  that  all  the  town  had  seen  the  play,  and 
that  it  would  run  no  longer,  unless  some  contrivance  was  fallen 
upon  to  make  the  lower  orders  of  tradesmen  and  apprentices 
come  to  the  playhouse.  After  hearing  several  ways  of  raising 
the  curiosity  of  the  lower  orders,  I  desired  him  to  take  a  walk 
for  half  an  hour,  and  look  at  the  view  from  Inveresk  church 
yard,  which  he  did  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  I  drew  up  what  I 
entitled  "  A  full  and  true  History  of  the  Bloody  Tragedy  of 
Douglas,  as  it  is  now  to  be  seen  acting  in  the  Theatre  at  the 
Canongate."  This  was  cried  about  the  streets  next  day,  and 
filled  the  house  for  two  nights  more. 

I  had  attended  the  playhouse,  not  on  the  first  or  second,  but 
on  the  third  night  of  the  performance,  being  well  aware  that 
all  the  fanatics  and  some  other  enemies  would  be  on  the  watch, 
and  make  all  the  advantage  they  possibly  could  against  me. 
But  six  or  seven  friends  of  the  author,  clergymen  from  the 
Merse,  having  attended,  reproached  me  for  my  cowardice ; 
and  above  all,  the  author  himself  and  some  female  friends  of 
his  having  heated  me  by  their  upbraidings,  I  went  on  the  third 
night,  and  having  taken  charge  of  the  ladies,  I  drew  on  my 
self  all  the  clamors  of  tongues  and  violence  of  prosecution 
which  I  afterwards  underwent.  I  believe  I  have  already 
mentioned  that  Dr.  Patrick  Cuming  having  become  jealous 
of  William  Robertson  and  John  Home  and  myself  on  account 
of  our  intimacy  with  Lord  Milton,  and  observing  his  active 
zeal  about  the  tragedy  of  Douglas,  took  it  into  his  head  that 
he  could  blow  us  up  and  destroy  our  popularity,  and  conse 
quently  disgust  Lord  Milton  with  us.  Very  warmly,  with  all 
the  friends  he  could  get  to  follow  him  —  particularly  Hynd- 
man  his  second  —  he  joined  with  Webster  and  his  party  in 


256  ACTING  OF  "  DOUGLAS." 

doing  everything  they  could  to  depreciate  the  tragedy  of 
Douglas,  and  disgrace  all  its  partisans.  With  this  view,  be 
sides  the  Act  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  which  was  read 
in  all  the  churches,  and  that  of  the  Presbytery  of  Glasgow, 
who  followed  them,  they  had  decoyed  Mr.  Thomas  Whyte, 
minister  of  Liberton,  an  honest  but  a  quiet  man,  to  submit  to 
a  six-weeks'  suspension  for  his  having  attended  the  tragedy  of 
Douglas,  which  he  had  confessed  he  had  done.*  This  they 
had  contrived  as  an  example  for  prosecuting  me,  and  at  least 
getting  a  similar  sentence  pronounced  against  me  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Dalkeith.  On  returning  from  Dumfries,  in  the 
second  week  of  February,  1757,  I  was  surprised  not  only  to 
find  the  amazing  hue  and  cry  that  had  been  raised  against 
Douglas,  but  all  the  train  that  had  been  laid  against  me,  and  a 
summons  to  attend  the  Presbytery,  to  answer  for  my  conduct, 
on  the  1st  day  of  Mardh. 

On  deliberating  about  this  affair,  with  all  the  knowledge  I 
had  of  the  laws  of  the  Church  and  the  confidence  I  had  in 
the  good-will  of  my  parish,  I  took  a  firm  resolution  not  to 
submit  to  what  I  saw  the  Presbytery  intended,  but  to  stand 
my  ground  on  a  firm  opinion  that  my  offence  was  not  a  foun 
dation  for  a  libel,  but  if  anything  at  all,  a  mere  impropriety  or 
offence  against  decorum,  which  ought  to  be  done  at  privy  cen 
sures  by  an  admonition.  This  ground  I  took,  and  never 
departed  from  it ;  but  I,  at  the  same  time,  resolved  to  mount 
my  horse,  and  visit  every  member  of  Presbytery,  especially 
my  opponents,  and,  by  a  free  confession,  endeavor  to  bring 
them  over  to  my  opinion.  They  received  me  differently  — 
some  with  a  contemptible  dissimulation,  and  others  with  a 
provoking  reserve  and  haughtiness.  I  saw  that  they  had  the 
majority  of  the  Presbytery  on  their  side,  and  that  the  cabal 

*  Whyte  owed  the  mitigated  sentence  to  his  plea,  that,  though  he  attend 
ed,  he  concealed  himself  as  well  as  he  could  to  avoid  giving  offence.  —  ED. 


ACTING  OF  "DOUGLAS."  257 

was  firm,  and  that  no  submission  on  my  part  would  turn  them 
aside  from  their  purpose.  This  confirmed  my  resolution  not 
to  yield,  but  to  run  every  risk  rather  than  furnish  an  example 
of  tame  submission,  not  merely  to  a  fanatical,  but  an  illegal 
exertion  of  power,  which  would  have  stamped  disgrace  on  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  kept  the  younger  clergy  for  half  a  cen 
tury  longer  in  the  trammels  of  bigotry  or  hypocrisy,  and 
debarred  every  generous  spirit  from  entering  into  orders. 
The  sequel  of  the  story  is  pretty  fully  and  correctly  stated 
in  the  Scots  Magazine  for  1757,  to  which  I  shall  only  add  a 
few  particulars,  which  were  less  known. 

Joseph  M'Cormick,  at  this  time  tutor  to  young  Mr.  Hepburn 
of  Clarkington,  and  afterwards  Principal  of  St.  Andrews 
United  Colleges,  had  entered  on  trials  before  the  Presbytery 
of  Dalkeith,  and  had  two  or  three  times  attended  the  tragedy 
of  Douglas.  This  he  told  them  himself,  which  threw  them 
into  a  dilemma,  out  of  which  they  did  not  know  how  to  escape. 
To  take  no  notice  of  his  having  attended  the  theatre,  while 
they  were  prosecuting  me,  was  a  very  glaring  inconsistency. 
On  the  other  hand,  to  send  him  out  as  a  probationer,  with  the 
slur  of  an  ecclesiastical  censure  on  his  character,  was  injustice 
to  the  young  man,  and  might  disoblige  his  friends.  So  rea 
soned  the  Jesuits  of  Dalkeith  Presbytery.  M'Cormick  him 
self  showed  them  the  way  out  of  this  snare  into  which  their 
zeal  and  hypocrisy  had  led  them.  After  allowing  them  to 
flounce  about  in  it  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  (as  he  told  them 
afterwards  with  infinite  humor),  he  represented  that  his  pupil 
and  he,  having  some  time  before  gone  into  their  lodgings  in 
Edinburgh  for  the  remainder  of  the  season,  he  would  be  much 
obliged  to  the  Presbytery  of  Dalkeith  if  they  would  transfer 
him  to  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh  to  take  the  remainder  of 
his  trials.  With  this  proposal  they  very  cheerfully  closed, 


258  ACTING  OF  "DOUGLAS." 

whilst  M'Cormick  inwardly  laughed  (for  he  was  a  laughing 
philosopher)  at  their  profligate  hypocrisy. 

It  is  proper  to  mention  here  that  during  the  course  of  this 
trial  I  received  several  anonymous  letters  from  a  person 
deservedly  high  in  reputation  in  the  Church  for  learning, 
and  ability,  and  liberality  of  sentiment  —  the  late  Dr.  Robert 
Wallace  —  which  supported  me  in  my  resolution,  and  gave 
me  the  soundest  advice  with  respect  to  the  management  of  my 
cause.  I  had  received  two  of  those  letters  before  I  knew 
from  whence  they  came,  when,  on  showing  them  to  my  father, 
he  knew  the  hand,  as  the  Doctor  and  he  had  been  at  college 
together.  This  circumstance  prevented  my  father  from  waver 
ing,  to  which  he  was  liable,  and  even  strengthened  my  own 
mind. 

It  is  necessary,  likewise,  to  advert  here  to  the  conduct  of 
Robert  Dundas  of  Arniston,  at  that  time  King's  Advocate,  as 
it  accounts  for  that  animosity  which  arose  against  him  among 
my  friends  of  the  Moderate  party,  and  the  success  of  certain 
satirical  ballads  and  pamphlets  which  were  published  some 
years  after.  This  was  his  decided  opposition  to  the  tragedy 
of  Douglas,  which  was  perfectly  known  from  his  own  manner 
of  talking  —  though  more  cautious  than  that  of  his  enemies, 
who  opened  loud  upon  Home  and  his  tragedy  —  and  likewise 
from  this  circumstance,  that  Thomas  Turnbull,  his  friend,  who 
took  my  side  in  the  Presbytery,  being  influenced  by  his 
brother-in-law,  Dr.  Wallace,  was  ever  after  out  of  favor  at 
Arniston  ;  and  what  was  more,  Dr.  Wallace,  who  was  of  the 
Lord  Advocate's  political  party,  incurred  his  displeasure  so 
much,  that,  during  the  remainder  of  his  own  life,  George  Wal 
lace,  advocate,  who  was  under  the  protection  of  the  family  of 
Arniston,  was  totally  neglected.*  This  piece  of  injustice  was 

*  George  Wallace,  author  of  a  folio  volume  —  the  first  of  an  indefinite 
series  never  completed  —  called  A  System  of  the  Principles  of  the  Law  of  Scot- 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL   LIBEL.  259 

not  explained  till  after  his  death,  when  his  son  Robert,  of  the 
most  amiable  and  liberal  mind,  gave  him  [Wallace]  a  judge's 
place  in  the  commissariat  of  Edinburgh.  It  was  farther 
proved  by  the  unseasonable  application  of  my  friend,  Mr. 
Baron  Grant,  who  was  his  political  friend  and  companion,  to 
allay  the  heat  of  the  Presbytery  of  Dalkeith,  and  induce  them 
to  withdraw  their  prosecution,  when  a  word  from  him  would 
have  done.  This  conduct  of  Dundas  might  in  part  be  imputed 
to  his  want  of  taste  and  discernment  in  what  related  to  the 
belles  lettres,  and  to  a  certain  violence  of  temper,  which  could 
endure  no  one  that  did  not  bend  to  him ;  or  to  his  jealousy  of 
Sir  G.  Elliot  and  Andrew  Pringle,  who  were  our  zealous 
friends  ;  or  his  hatred  of  Lord  Milton,  who  so  warmly  patron 
ized  John  Home.  It  was  amusing  to  observe,  during  the 
course  of  the  summer,  when  Wilkie's  Epigoniad  appeared, 
how  loud  the  retainers  of  the  house  of  Arniston  were  in  its 
praise,  saying  they  knew  how  to  distinguish  between  good  and 
bad  poetry ;  and  now  they  had  got  something  to  commend. 

Chiming,  Webster,  and  Hyndman,  and  a  fiery  man  at  Leith, 
whose  name  I  forget,  were  the  committee  who  drew  up  the 
libel.  Webster,  who  had  no  bowels,  and  who  could  do  mis 
chief  with  the  joy  of  an  ape,  suggested  all  the  circumstances 
of  aggravation,  and  was  quite  delighted  when  he  got  his  col 
leagues  of  the  committee  to  insert  such  circumstances  as  my 
eating  and  drinking  with  Sarah  Ward,  and  taking  my  place 
in  the  playhouse  by  turning  some  gentlemen  out  of  their 
seats,  and  committing  a  riot,  &c.* 

At  a  very  full  meeting  of  my  friends  in  Boyd's  large  room, 

land,  and  a  book  on  The  Nature  and  Descent  of  certain  Peerages  connected 
with  the  Kingdom  of  Scotland.  As  to  his  father,  see  above,  p.  240.  —  ED. 

*  "  The  libel  "  is  the  name  of  the  document  or  writ  by  which,  in  Scot 
land,  a  clergyman,  charged  by  an  ecclesiastical  court  with  an  offence,  is 
brought  before  his  accusers  for  trial  and  judgment.  The  term  is  taken  from 
the  Roman  libelli  accusatorii.  Of  the  libel  against  Carlyle,  which  is  long, 


260  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  LIBEL. 

in  the  Canongate,  the  night  before  the  Synod  met,  I  proposed 
Dr.  Dick,  who  had  recently  been  admitted  a  minister  in  Edin 
burgh,  for  the  Moderator's  chair.  I  had  prepared  my  friends 
beforehand  for  this  proposal,  and  was  induced  to  do  it  for  sev 
eral  reasons.  One  was  to  exclude  Robertson,  whose  speaking 
would  be  of  more  consequence  if  not  in  the  chair.  Another 
was  to  show  my  friend  Dick  to  the  rest,  and  to  make  them 
confidential  with  him,  and  to  fix  so  able  an  assistant  in  our 
party,  He  was  accordingly  elected  without  opposition,  and 
performed  his  duty  with  the  utmost  spirit  and  manhood ;  for, 
besides  preserving  general  good  order,  he,  with  uncommon 

and  well  supplied  with  the  usual  technicalities,  the  following  specimens  will 
perhaps  be  considered  sufficient:  "  On  the  eighth  day  of  December,  in  the 
year  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-six,  or  upon  one  or  other  of  the  days  of 
November  or  October  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-six,  or  upon  one  or  other  of 
the  days  of  January  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-seven  years,  he,  the  said  Mr. 
Alexander  Carlyle,  did,  without  necessity,  keep  company,  familiarly  converse, 
and  eat  and  drink  with  West  Diggs  (one  of  the  actors  on  the  unlicensed  stage 
or  theatre  at  the  head  of  the  Canongate  of  Edinburgh,  commonly  called  the 
Concert-hall),  in  the  house  of  Henry  Thomson,  vintner  in  the  Abbey,  near 
to  the  Palace  of  Holyrood  House,  or  in  some  other  house  or  tavern  within 
the  city  or  suburbs  of  Edinburgh,  or  Canongate,  or  said  Abbey,  or  Leith ;  at 
least  he,  the  said  Mr.  Alexander  Carlyle,  did,  without  necessity,  at  the  time 
or  times,  place  or  places  above  libelled,  converse  in  a  familiar  manner  with 
the  said  West  Diggs,  or  with  Miss  Sarah  Ward,  an  actress  on  the  said  the 
atre,  or  with  some  other  of  the  persons  who  are  in  the  course  of  acting 
plays  in  the  said  theatre,  —  persons  that  do  not  reside  in  his  parish,  and 
who,  by  their  profession,  and  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  are  of  bad  fame,  and 
who  cannot  obtain  from  any  minister  a  testimonial  of  their  moral  character 
and  he,  the  said  Mr.  Alexander  Carlyle,  did  not  only  appear  pub 
licly  in  the  said  unlicensed  theatre,  but  took  possession  of  a  box,  or  a  place 
in  one  of  the  boxes,  of  the  said  house,  in  a  disorderly  way,  and  turned  some 
gentlemen  out  of  it  in  a  forcible  manner,  and  did  there  witness  the  acting  or 
representation  of  the  foresaid  tragedy  called  Douglas,  when  acted  for  hire 
or  reward,  in  which  the  name  of  God  was  profaned  or  taken  in  vain  by 
mock  prayers  and  tremendous  oaths  or  expressions,  such  as  — '  by  the 
blood  of  the  cross,'  and  '  the  wounds  of  Him  who  died  for  us  on  the  ac 
cursed  tree.'  "  —  ED. 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL   LIBEL.  261 

decision  and  readiness,  severely  rebuked  Hyndman  when  he 
was  very  offensive.  The  lachite  of  Hyndman's  mind,  which 
was  well  known  to  Dick  and  me,  made  him  submit  to  this 
rebuke  from  the  chair,  though,  in  reality,  he  was  not  out  of 
order.  What  a  pity  it  was  that  Robertson  afterwards  lost  this 
man  in  the  manner  I  shall  afterwards  mention  ! 

It  was  remarked  that  there  were  only  three  of  a  majority 
in  the  Synod  for  the  sentence  which  my  friends  had  devised, 
assisted  by  the  very  good  sense  of  Professor  Robert  Hamilton, 
and  his  intricate  and  embarrassed  expression,  which  .concealed 
while  it  palliated  —  and  that  two  of  those  three  were  John 
Home,  the  author,  and  my  father ;  but  neither  of  their  votes 
could  have  been  rejected,  and  the  moderator's  casting-vote 
would  have  been  with  us. 

My  speech  in  my  own  defence  in  the  Synod,  which  I  drew 
up  rather  in  the  form  of  a  remonstrance  than  an  argument, 
leaving  that  to  Robertson  and  my  other  friends,  made  a  very 
good  impression  on  the  audience.  John  Dalrymple,  junior, 
of  Cranstoun,  was  my  advocate  at  the  bar,  and  did  justice 
to  the  cause  he  had  voluntarily  undertaken,  which,  while  it 
served  me  effectually,  gave  him  the  first  opportunity  he  had 
of  displaying  his  talents  before  a  popular  assembly.  Robert 
son's  was  a  speech  of  great  address,  and  had  a  good  effect ; 
but  none  was  better  than  that  of  Andrew  Pringle,  Esq.,  the 
Solicitor,  who,  I  think,  was  the  most  eloquent  of  all  the  Scot 
tish  bar  in  my  time.  The  Presbytery  thought  fit  to  appeal. 
"When  it  came  to  the  Assembly,  the  sentence  of  the  Synod 
was  ably  defended,  and  as  a  proof  that  the  heat  and  animos 
ity  raised  against  the  tragedy  of  Douglas  and  its  supporters 
was  artificial  and  local,  the  sentence  of  the  Synod  was  affirmed 
by  117  to  39.  When  it  was  over,.  Primrose,  one  of  my 
warmest  opposers,  turned  to  me,  and,  shaking  hands,  "  I  wish 
you  joy,"  said  he,  "  of  this  sentence  in  your  favor  ;  and  if 


262  THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  LIBEL. 

you  hereafter  choose  to  go  to   every   play  that  is  acted,  I 
shall  take  no  notice." 

Next  day,  on  a  proposal  which  was  seconded  by  George 
Dempster,  my  firm  friend,  the  Assembly  passed  an  Act 
declaratory,  forbidding  the  clergy  to  countenance  the  thea 
tre.  But  Primrose  was  in  the  right,  for  manners  are  strong 
er  than  laws  ;  and  this  Act,  which  was  made  on  recent  prov 
ocation,  was  the  only  Act  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  against 
the  theatre  —  so  was  it  totally  neglected.  Although  the 
clergy  in  Edinburgh  and  its  neighborhood  had  abstained 
from  the  theatre  because  it  gave  offence,  yet  the  more  remote 
clergymen,  when  occasionally  in  town,  had  almost  univer 
sally  attended  the  playhouse  ;  and  now  that  the  subject  had 
been  solemnly  discussed,  and  all  men  were  convinced  that 
the  violent  proceedings  they  had  witnessed  were  the  effects 
of  bigotry  or  jealousy,  mixed  with  party-spirit  and  cabal, 
the  more  distant  clergy  returned  to  their  usual  amusement 
in  the  theatre  when  occasionally  in  town.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  in  the  year  1784,  when  the  great  actress  Mrs.  Siddons 
first  appeared  in  Edinburgh,  during  the  sitting  of  the  General 
Assembly,  that  court  was  obliged  to  fix  all  its  important 
business  for  the  alternate  days  when  she  did  not  act,  as  all 
the  younger  members,  clergy  as  well  as  laity,  took  their 
stations  in  the  theatre  on  those  days  by  three  in  the  after 
noon.  Drs.  Robertson  and  Blair,  though  they  both  visited 
this  great  actress  in  private,  often  regretted  to  me  that  they 
had  not  seized  the  opportunity  which  was  given  them,  by 
her  superior  talents  and  unexceptionable  character,  of  going 
openly  to  the  theatre,  which  would  have  put  an  end  to  all 
future  animadversions  on  the  subject.  This  conduct  of  theirs 
was  keeping  the  reserve  of  their  own  imaginary  importance 
to  the  last ;  and  their  regretting  it  was  very  just,  for  by 
that  time  they  got  no  credit  for  their  abstinence,  and  the 


THE  ECCLESIASTICAL   LIBEL.  263 

struggle  between  the  liberal  and  the  restrained  and  affected 
manners  of  the  clergy  had  been  long  at  an  end,  by  my  having 
finally  stood  my  ground,  and  been  so  well  supported  by  so 
great  a  majority  of  the  Church. 

Of  the  many  exertions  I  and  my  friends  have  made  for  the 
credit  and  interest  of  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
there  was  none  more  meritorious  or  of  better  effects  than  this. 
The  laws  of  the  Church  were  sufficiently  strict  to  prevent  per 
sons  of  conduct  really  criminal  from  entering  into  it ;  and  it 
was  of  great  importance  to  discriminate  the  artificial  virtues 
and  vices,  formed  by  ignorance  and  superstition,  from  those 
that  are  real,  lest  the  continuance  of  such  a  bar  should  have 
given  check  to  the  rising  liberality  of  the  young  scholars,  and 
prevented  those  of  better  birth  or  more  ingenious  minds  from 
entering  into  the  profession. 

One  of  the  chief  actors  in  this  farce  suffered  most  for  the 
duplicity  of  his  conduct,  for  he  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Moderate  party,  through  jealousy  or  bad  temper,  having  with 
some  of  his  friends  headed  the  party  against  the  tragedy  of 
Douglas,  his  followers  in  the  Highlands  and  remoter  parts,  of 
the  Moderate  party,  were  so  much  offended  with  his  hypocrit 
ical  conduct,  as  they  called  it,  that  they  left  him  ever  after, 
and  joined  with  those  whom  he  had  taken  so  much  pains  to 
disgrace,  whilst  he  and  the  other  old  leaders  themselves 
united  with  their  former  opponents.* 

Mr.  Alexander  Wedderburn,  afterwards  Lord  Chancellor 
and  Earl  of  Roslyn,  not  having  come  down  time  enough  to 
speak  or  vote  in  the  cause  (by  design  or  not  is  more  than  I 
know),  but  appearing  on  the  day  after,  took  an  opportunity  to 
give  Peter  Cuming  a  very  complete  dressing.  Peter  was 
chaplain  to  Lord  Grange  for  some  years  before  he  was  settled 

*  It  was  soon  after  this  that  the  leadership  of  the  Church  passed  from 
Cuming  to  Robertson.  —  ED. 


264         THE  CLERGY  AND  THE  STAGE. 

at  Kirknewton,  and  after  my  father  at  Lochmaben,  from  whence 
he  was  brought  to  Edinburgh. 

With  respect  to  Webster,  best  known  at  that  time  by  the 
designation  of  Dr.  Bonum  Magnum,  his  Proteus-like  character 
seldom  lost  by  any  transaction,  and  in  this  case  he  was  only 
acting  his  natural  part,  which  was  that  of  running  down  all 
indecencies  in  clergymen  but  those  of  the  table,  and  doing 
mischief,  like  a  monkey,  for  its  own  satisfaction. 

One  event  was  curious  in  the  sequel.  Mr.  John  Home, 
who  was  the  author  of  the  tragedy,  and  of  all  the  mischief 
consequent  upon  it  —  while  his  Presbytery  of  Haddington 
had  been  from  time  to  time  obstructed  in  their  designs  by  the 
good  management  of  Stedman,  Robertson,  and  Bannatine,  and 
were  now  preparing  in  earnest  to  carry  on  a  prosecution 
against  him,  —  on  the  seventh  of  June  that  year  gave  in  a 
demission  of  his  office,  and  withdrew  from  the  Church,  with 
out  the  least  animadversion  on  his  conduct,  which  threw  com 
plete  ridicule  on  the  opposite  party,  and  made  the  flame  which 
had  been  raised  against  me  appear  hypocritical  and  odious  to 
the  last  degree. 

Mr.  Home,  after  the  great  successful  his  tragedy  of  Douglas 
in  Edinburgh,  went  to  London  early  in  1757,  and  had  his 
tragedy  acted  in  Covent  Garden  (for  Garrick,  though  now  his 
friend,  could  not  possibly  let  it  be  performed  in  his  theatre 
after  having  pronounced  it  unfit  for  the  stage),  where  it  had 
great  success.  This  tragedy  still  maintains  its  ground,  has 
been  more  frequently  acted,  and  is  more  popular,  than  any 
tragedy  in  the  English  language. 

After  John  Home  resigned  his  charge,  he  and  Adam  Fer 
guson  retired  to  a  lodging  at  Braid  for  three  months  to  study, 
where  they  were  very  busy.  During  that  time  Mrs.  Kinloch 
of  Gilmerton  was  brought  to  bed  of  her  eighth  child,  and  died 
immediately  after.  This  was  a  very  great  loss  to  her  family 


A  DOMESTIC  TRAGEDY.  265 

of  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  as  her  being  withdrawn  from 
the  care  of  their  education  accounts  better  for  the  misconduct 
and  misery  of  four  of  her  sons,  than  the  general  belief  of  the 
country  that  the  house  of  Gilmerton  could  never  thrive  after 
the  injustice  done  to  their  eldest  son  by  Sir  Francis  and  his 
wife  and  their  son  David,  who  was  involved  in  their  guilt,  and 
was  made  heir  to  the  estate  instead  of  his  brother.  These 
superstitious  notions,  however  ill  founded,  may  sometimes, 
perhaps,  check  the  doing  of  atrocious  deeds.  But  what  shall 
we  say  when  Sir  Francis,  who  succeeded  his  father  Sir  David, 
survived  him  only  a  few  days,  though  he  was  the  most  able, 
the  most  ingenious,  the  most  worthy  and  virtuous  young  man 
of  the  whole  county  to  which  he  belonged,  and  died  by  fratri 
cide,  —  a  crime  rare  everywhere,  and  almost  unknown  in  this 
country."  *  No  greater  misfortune  can  befall  any  family,  when 
children  are  in  their  infancy,  than  the  loss  of  a  mother  of  good 
sense  and  dignity  of  manners. 

Home  being  very  busy  with  some  of  his  dramatic  works, 
and  not  having  leisure  to  attend  Sir  David  in  his  affliction, 
which  was  sincere,  applied  to  me  to  make  an  excursion  with 
him  into  the  North  of?;England  for  a  week  or  two  to  amuse 
him.  I  consented,  and  when  I  went  to  Gilmerton  by  con 
cert,  I  found  that  the  baronet  had  conjoined  two  other  gen 
tlemen  to  the  party,  —  my  friend  Mr.  Baron  Grant,  and 
Mr.  Montgomery,  afterwards  Chief-Baron  and  Sir  James, 
who  was  my  friend  ever  after.  Those  two  gentlemen  were 
on  horseback,  and  Sir  David  and  I  in  his  postchaise,  a 
vehicle  which  had  but  recently  been  brought  into  Scotland, 
as  our  turnpike  roads  were  but  in  their  infancy.  We  went 

*  Sir  Archibald  Kinloch  was  brought  to  trial  in  1795  for  the  murder  of 
his  elder  brother  Sir  Francis,  whom  he  shot  with  a  pistol  in  the  family 
mansion  of  Gilmerton.     The  verdict  of  the  jury  sustained  a  plea  of  insanity , 
See  Slate  Trials,  xxv.  891.  —  Kr>. 
12 


266  DUKE  OF  ARGYLE. 

no  farther  than  Sir  John  Hall's,  at  Dunglass,  the  first  day ; 
and  as  we  pretended  to  be  inquiring  into  the  state  of  hus 
bandry,  we  made  very  short  journeys,  turning  aside  to  see 
anything  curious  in  the  mode  of  improvement  of  land  that 
fell  in  our  way,  sometimes  staying  all  night  in  inns,  and 
sometimes  in  gentlemen's  houses,  as  they  fell  in  our  way ;  for 
Sir  David  was  well  known  to  many  of  the  Northumbrians  for 
his  hospitality  and  skill  in  cattle.  We  went  no  farther  than 
Newcastle  and  its  environs,  and  returned  after  a  fortnight's 
very  agreeable  amusement.  On  this  expedition  I  made  some 
very  agreeable  acquaintance,  of  which  I  afterwards  availed 
myself,  —  Ralph  Carr,  an  eminent  merchant,  still  alive 
(August,  1804),  and  his  brother-in-law  Mr.  Withrington, 
styled  "  the  honest  attorney  of  the  north,"  and  his  son  John, 
an  accomplished  young  man,  who  died  a  few  years  ago,  and 
was  the  representative  of  the  ancient  family  of  that  name. 

Some  time  this  summer,  after  a  convivial  meeting,  Dr. 
Wight  and  I  were  left  alone  for  an  hour  or  two  with  Alex 
ander  Wedderburn,  who  opened  himself  to  us  as  much  as 
he  was  capable  of  doing  to  anybody,  and  the  impression  he 
left  corresponded  with  the  character  he  had  among  his  inti 
mates. 

It  was  in  the  end  of  this  year  that  I  was  introduced  to 
Archibald,  Duke  of  Argyle,  who  usually  passed  some  days 
at  Brunstane,  Lord  Milton's  seat,  as  he  went  to  Inverary 
and  returned.  It  was  on  his  way  back  to  London  that  I 
was  sent  for  one  Sunday  morning  to  come  to  Brunstane  to 
dine  that  day  with  the  Duke.  That  I  could  not  do,  as  I  had 
to  do  duty  in  my  own  church  in  the  afternoon,  and  dinner  in 
those  days  was  at  two  o'clock.  I  went  up  in  the  evening, 
when  the  Duke  was  taking  his  nap,  as  usual,  in  an  elbow- 
chair,  with  a  black  silk  cap  over  his  eyes.  There  was  no 
company  but  Lord  and  Lady  Milton,  Mr.  Fletcher,  and  the 


DUKE  OF  ARGYLE.  267 

young  ladies,  with.  "William  Alstone,  who  was  a  confidential 
and  political  secretary  of  Milton's. 

After  a  little  I  observed  the  Duke  lift  up  his  cap,  and 
seeing  a  stranger  in  the  room,  he  pulled  it  over  his  eyes 
again,  and  beckoned  Miss  Fletcher  to  him,  who  told  him  who 
I  was.  In  a  little  while  he  got  up,  and  advancing  to  me,  and 
taking  me  by  the  hand,  said  he  "  was  glad  to  see  me,  but  that, 
between  sleeping  and  waking,  he  had  taken  me  for  his  cousin, 
the  Earl  of  Home,  who  I  still  think  you  resemble ;  but  that 
could  not  be,  for  I  know  that  he  is  at  Gibraltar."  When  we 
returned  to  our  seats,  Mally  Fletcher  whispered  me  that  my 
bread  was  baken,  for  that  Lord  Home  was  one  of  his  greatest 
favorites.  This  I  laughed  at,  for  the  old  gentleman  had  said 
that  as  an  apology  for  his  having  done  what  he  might  think 
not  quite  polite  in  calling  Mally  Fletcher  to  him,  and  not 
taking  any  notice  of  me  for  a  minute  or  two  afterwards.  The 
good  opinion  of  that  family  was  enough  to  secure  me  a  favor 
able  reception  at  first,  and  I  knew  he  would  not  like  me  worse 
for  having  stood  a  battle  with,  and  beat,  the  Highflyers  of  our 
Church,  whom  he  abhorred  ;  for  he  was  not  so  accessible  to 
Peter  Cuming  as  Lord  Milton  was,  whom  he  tried  to  persuade 
that  his  having  joined  the  other  party  was  out  of  tenderness 
to  me,  for  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Highflyers  to  depose  me 
if  he  had  not  moderated  their  counsels.  But  I  had  a  friend 
behind  the  curtain  in  his  daughter,  Miss  Betty,  whom  he  used 
to  take  out  in  the  coach  with  him  alone,  to  settle  his  mind 
when  he  was  in  any  doubt  or  perplexity ;  for,  like  all  other 
ministers,  he  was  surrounded  with  intrigue  and  deceit.  Fer 
guson  was,  besides,  now  come  into  favor  with  him,  for  his 
dignified  and  sententious  manner  of  talking  had  pleased  him 
no  less  than  John  Home's  pleasantry  and  unveiled  flattery. 
Milton  had  a  mind  sufficiently  acute  to  comprehend  Ferguson's 
profound  speculations,  though  his  own  forte  did  not  lie  in  any 


268  LORD  MILTON  AND  DAVID  HUME. 

kind  of  philosophy,  but  the  knowledge  of  men,  and  the  man 
agement  of  them,  while  Ferguson  was  his  admiring  scholar 
in  those  articles.  He  had  been  much  teazed  about  the  trag 
edy  of  Douglas,  for  Cuming  had  still  access  to  him  at  certain 
hours  by  the  political  back-door  from  Gray's  Close,  and  had 
alarmed  him  much ;  especially  immediately  after  the  publi 
cation  of  my  pamphlet,  An  Argument,  Sj-c.,  which  had  irritated 
the  wild  brethren  so  much,  said  Peter,  that  he  could  not> 
answer  for  what  mischief  might  follow.  When  he  had  been 
by  such  means  kept  in  a  very  fretful  humor,  he  came  up  into 
the  draAving-room,  where  David  Hume  was,  with  John  and 
Ferguson  and  myself ;  on  David's  saying  something,  with  his 
usual  good-humor,  to  smooth  his  wrinkly  brow,  Milton  turned 
to  him  with  great  asperity,  and  said  that  he  had  better  hold 
his  peace  on  the  subject,  for  it  was  owing  to  him,  and  keeping 
company  with  him,  that  such  a  clamor  was  raised.  David 
made  no  reply,  but  soon  after  took  his  hat  and  cane,  and  left 
the  room,  never  more  to  enter  the  house,  which  he  never  did, 
though  much  pains  was  taken  afterwards,  for  Milton  soon 
repented,  and  David  would  have  returned,  but  Betty  Fletcher 
opposed  it,  rather  foregoing  his  company  at  their  house  than 
suffer  him  to  degrade  himself —  such  was  the  generous  spirit 
of  that  young  lady.  Had  it  not  been  for  Ferguson  and  her, 
John  Home  and  I  would  have  been  expelled  also. 

Early  in  the  year  1758  my  favorite  in  the  house  of  Brun- 
stane  changed  her  name,  for  on  the  6th  of  February  she  was 
married  to  Captain  John  Wedderburn  of  Go&ford,  much  to" 
the  satisfaction  of  Lord  Milton  and  all  her  friends,  as  he  was 
a  man  of  superior  character,  had  then  a  good  fortune  and  the 
prospect  of  a  better,  which  was  fulfilled  not  long  afterwards 
when  he  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estate  of  Pitferran  by  the 
name  of  Sir  John  Halkett.  As  I  was  frequently  at  Brun- 
stane  about  this  time,  I  became  the  confidant  of  both  the 


A  MARRIAGE  IN  LONDON.  2G9 

parties,  and  the  bride  was  desirous  to  have  me  to  tie  the 
nuptial  knot.  But  this  failed  through  Lord  Milton's  love 
of  order,  which  made  him  employ  the  parish  minister,  Ben- 
net  of  Duddingston.  This  she  wrote  me  with  much  regret 
on  the  morning  of  her  marriage  ;  but  added,  that  as  on  that 
day  she  would  become  mistress  of  a  house  of  her  own,  she 
insisted  that  I  should  meet  her  there,  and  receive  her  when 
she  entered  the  house  of  Gosford. 

About  the  end  of  February  or  beginning  of  March  this 
year,  I  went  to  London  with  my  eldest  sister,  Margaret,  to 
get  her  married  with  Dr.  Dickson,  M.  D.*  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  we  could  get  no  four-wheeled  chaise  till  we  came  to  Dur 
ham,  those  conveyances  being  then  only  in  their  infancy,  — 
the  two-wheeled  close  chaise,  which  had  been  used  for  some 
time,  and  was  called  an  Italian  chaise,  having  been  found  very 
inconvenient.  Turnpike  roads  were  only  in  their  commence 
ment  in  the  north.  Dr.  Dickson,  with  a  friend,  met  us  at 
Stilton.  We  arrived  safe  at  my  aunt  Lyon's  in  New  Bond 
Street,  she  being  then  alive,  as  well  as  her  sister,  Mrs.  Pater- 
son.  To  the  proper  celebration  of  the  marriage  there  were 
three  things  wanting,  —  a  license,  a  parson,  and  a  best  maid. 
In  the  last,  the  Honorable  Miss  Nelly  Murray,  Lord  Elibank's 
sister,  afterwards  Lady  Stewart,  and  still  alive  in  September, 
1804,  offered  her  services,  which  did  us  honor,  and  pleased 
my  two  aunts  very  much,  especially  Mrs.  Lyon,  whose  head 
was  constantly  swimming  with  vanity,  which  even  her  uncom 
mon  misfortune,  after  having  fulfilled  the  utmost  wish  of  am 
bition,  had  not  cured.  A  license  was  easily  bought  at  Doctors' 
Commons,  and  Dr.  John  Blair,  afterwards  a  prebend  of  West 
minster,  my  particular  friend,  was  easily  prevailed  with  to 
secure  the  use  of  a  church  and  perform  the  ceremony.  This 
business  being  put  successfully  over,  and  having  seen  my  sis- 

*  See  above,  p.  168. 


270  LONDON. 

ter  and  her  husband  into  lodgings  in  the  city  till  their  house 
was  ready,  I  took  up  my  abode  at  my  aunts',  and  occasionally 
at  John  Home's  lodging  in  South  Audley  Street,  which  he 
had  taken  to  be  near  Lord  Bute,  who  had  become  his  great 
friend  and  patron,  having  introduced  him  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  had  settled  on  him  a  pension  of  £100  per 
annum. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

1758:    AGE,   36. 

FINDS  ROBERTSON  IN  LONDON  ABOUT  HIS  HISTOKY.  —  HOME  JOINS  THEM. 
—  THEIR  FRIENDS  AND  ADVENTURES.  —  CHATHAM.  —  JOHN  BLAIR  THE 
MATHEMATICIAN. — BISHOP  DOUGLAS.  —  SMOLLETT  AND  HIS  LEVEE  OF 
AUTHORS.  —  A  DAY  WITH  GARRICK  AT  HIS  VILLA.  —  FEATS  AT  GOLF 
THERE.  —  A  METHODIST  MEETING-HOUSE.  —  THE  CLERGY  OF  SCOTLAND 
AND  THE  WINDOW-TAX.  —  ADAM  THE  ARCHITECT.  —  AN  EXPEDITION 
TO  PORTSMOUTH.  —  ADVENTURES  BY  LAND  AND  SEA.  —  MEETING  WITH 
LORD  BUTE.  —  THE  JOURNEY  HOME.  —  OXFORD.  —  WOODSTOCK.  — 
BLENHEIM.  —  BIRMINGHAM.  —  LORD  LITTLETON.  —  SHENSTONE  AT  THE 
LEASOWES. 

DR.  ROBERTSON  having  come  to  London  at  this  time  to 
offer  his  History  of  Scotland  for  sale,  where  he  had  never 
been  before,  we  went  to  see  the  lions  together,  and  had  for  the 
most  part  the  same  acquaintance.  Dr.  William  Pitcairn,  a 
very  respectable  physician  in  the  city,  and  a  great  friend  of 
Dr.  Dickson's,  was  a  cousin  of  Dr.  Robertson's,  whose  mother 
was  a  Pitcairn  ;  we  became  very  intimate  with  him.  Drs. 
Armstrong  and  Orme  were  also  of  their  society.  Pitcairn 
was  a  very  handsome  man,  a  little  turned  of  fifty,  of  a  very 
gentlemanly  address.  When  he  settled  first  in  London  he 
was  patronized  by  an  Alderman  Behn,  who,  being  a  Jacobite, 
and  not  doubting  that  Pitcairn  was  of  the  same  side,  as  he 
had  travelled  with  Duke  Hamilton,  he  set  him  up  as  a  candi 
date  for  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  During  the  canvass  the 
Alderman  came  to  the  Doctor,  and  asked  him  with  impatient 
heat  if  it  was  true  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  Presbyterian 


272  LONDON  SOCIETY  IN  1758. 

minister  in  Scotland,  which  Pitcairn  not  being  able  to  deny, 
the  other  conjured  him  to  conceal  that  circumstance  like 
murder,  otherwise  it  would  infallibly  blow  them  up.  He  was 
elected  physician  to  that  hospital,  and  soon  rose  to  great  busi 
ness  in  the  city. 

Dr.  Pitcairn  was  a  bachelor,  and  lived  handsomely,  but 
chiefly  entertained  young  Scotch  physicians  who  had  no  estab 
lishment.  Of  those,  Drs.  Armstrong  and  Dickson  were  much 
with  him.  As  our  connections  drew  Robertson  and  me  fre 
quently  to  the  city  before  my  sister's  house  was  ready,  by 
earnest  invitation  we  both  took  up  our  lodging  at  his  house. 
We  never  saw  our  landlord  in  the  morning,  for  he  went  to  the 
hospital  before  eight  o'clock  ;  but  his  housekeeper  had  orders 
to  ask  us  at  breakfast  if  we  intended  to  dine  there,  and  to  tell 
us  when  her  master  was  expected.  The  Doctor  always  re 
turned  from  his  round  of  visits  before  three,  which  was  his 
hour  of  dinner,  and  quite  happy  if  he  found  us  there.  Ex 
actly  at  five  his  chariot  came  to  the  door  to  carry  him  out  on 
his  afternoon  visits.  We  sat  as  long  as  we  liked  at  table,  and 
drunk  excellent  claret.  He  returned  soon  after  eight  o'clock  ; 
if  he  found  his  company  still  together,  which  was  sometimes 
the  case,  he  was  highly  pleased.  He  immediately  entered  into 
our  humor,  ate  a  bit  of  cold  meat,  drank  a  little  wine,  and  went 
to  bed  before  ten  o'clock.  This  was  a  very  uncommon  strain 
of  hospitality,  which,  I  am  glad  to  record,  on  repeated  trials, 
never  was  exhausted.  He  lived  on  in  the  same  manner  till 
1782,  when  he  was  past  eighty ;  and  when  I  was  in  London 
for  the  last  time,  he  was  then  perfectly  entire,  and  made  his 
morning  tour  on  foot.  I  dined  once  with  him  at  that  period  in 
his  own  house  with  a  large  company  of  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
and  at  Dr.  Hamilton's,  his  cousin,  of  St.  Martin's  Church,  on 
both  of  which  occasions  he  was  remarkably  gay.  He  survived 
for  a  year  or  two  longer.  Dr.  David  Pitcairn,  the  son  of  his 


LORD  CHATHAM.  273 

brother  the  major,  who  was  killed  early  in  the  American  re 
bellion,  was  heir  both  of  his  fortune  and  professional  merit. 

With  Robertson  and  Home  in  London  I  passed  the  time 
very  agreeably ;  for  though  Home  was  now  entirely  at  the 
command  of  Lord  Bute,  whose  nod  made  him  break  every 
engagement  —  for  it  was  not  given  above  an  hour  or  two  be 
fore  dinner  —  yet  as  he  was  sometimes  at  liberty  when  the 
noble  lord  was  to  dine  abroad,  like  a  horse  loosened  from  his 
stake,  he  was  more  sportful  than  usual.  We  had  Sir  David 
Kinloch  likewise,  who  had  come  to  consult  physicians,  and  Dr. 
Charles  Congalton,  who  was  his  attendant.  With  them  we 
met  often  at  the  British.  Charles  was  my  old  companion,  and 
a  more  naif  and  ingenuous  soul  never  was  born.  I  said  to 
him  one  day,  "  Charlie,  how  do  you  like  the  English,  now  that 
you  have  seen  them  twice  for  two  or  three  months  ? "  "I 
cannot  answer  your  question,"  replied  he,  "  for  I  am  not  ac 
quainted  with  any  of  them."  "  What !  not  acquainted  !  "  said 
I.  "  Yes,"  says  he,  "  I  have  seen  half  a  dozen  of  them  calling 
on  Sir  David,  but  I  never  enter  into  conversation  with  the 
John  Bulls,  for,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I  don't  yet  well  under 
stand  what  they  say." 

The  first  William  Pitt  had  at  this  time  risen  to  the  zenith 
of  his  glory,  when  Robertson  and  I,  after  frequent  attempts  to 
hear  him  speak,  when  there  was  nothing  passing  in  the  House 
that  called  him,  we  at  last  heard  a  debate  on  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act,  which  Pitt  had  new  modelled  in  order  to  throw  a 
slur  on  Lord  Mansfield,  who  had  taken  some  liberties,  it  was 
alleged,  with  that  law,  which  made  him  unpopular.  We  ac 
cordingly  took  our  places  in  the  gallery,  and  for  the  first  three 
hours  were  much  disposed  to  sleep  by  the  dull,  tedious  speeches 
of  two  or  three  lawyers,  till  at  last  the  Attorney-General, 
afterwards  Lord  Camden,  rose  and  spoke  with  clearness,  argu 
ment,  and  eloquence.  He  was  answered  ably  by  Mr.  York, 
12*  \ 


274  LOKD   CHATHAM. 

Solicitor- General.  Dr.  Hay,  the  King's  Advocate  in  Doctors' 
Commons,  spoke  next,  with  a  clearness,  a  force,  and  brevity, 
which  pleased  us  much.  At  length  Mr.  Pitt  rose,  and  with 
that  commanding  eloquence  in  which  he  excelled,  he  spoke  for 
half  an  hour,  with  an  overpowering  force  of  persuasion  more 
than  the  clear  conviction  of  argument.  He  was"  opposed  by 
several  speakers,  to  none  of  whom  he  vouchsafed  to  make  an 
answer,  but  to  James  Oswald  of  Dunikier,  who  was  a  very 
able  man,  though  not  an  eloquent  speaker.  With  all  our  ad 
miration  of  Pitt's  eloquence,  which  was  surely  of  the  highes'- 
order,  Robertson  and  I  felt  the  same  sentiment,  which  was  tho 
desire  to  resist  a  tyrant,  who,  like  a  domineering  schoolmaster, 
kept  his  boys  in  order  by  raising  their  fears  without  wasting 
argument  upon  them.  This  haughty  manner  is  necessary, 
perhaps,  in  every  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons ;  for  when 
he  is  civil  and  condescending,  he  soon  loses  his  authority,  and 
is  trampled  upon.  Is  this  common  to  all  political  assemblies  ? 
or  is  it  only  a  part  of  the  character  of  the  English  in  all 
ordinary  political  affairs,  till  they  are  heated  by  faction  or 
alarmed  by  danger,  to  yield  to  the  statesman  who  is  most 
assuming  ?  * 

Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  of  Minto  was  at  this  time  one  of  the 
Admiralty,  and  we  were  frequently  with  him.  He  was  a  very 
accomplished  and  sensible  man,  and  John  Home  had  not 
found  him  a  cold  friend,  as  he  was  supposed  to  be,  for  by  his 
means  chiefly  he  had  been  put  under  the  protection  of  Lord 
Bute,  a  favor  which  John  did  not  coldly  return ;  for,  on  the 
accession  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Home,  who  was  then  in  full 
confidence  with  his  lordship,  recommended  the  baronet  most 
effectually  to  him,  —  a  clear  proof  of  which  I  saw  in  a  letter 
from  Lord  Bute  to  Home. 

*  James  Oswald.    See  "  Memorials  of  the  Public  Life  and  Character  of 
the  Right  Hon.  James  Oswald,"  8vo,  1825.  —  ED. 


BLAIR.  —  DOUGLAS.  275 

Dr.  John  Blair,  who,  on  account  of  a  certain  petulant  and 
wrangling  humor,  was  disliked  by  many  people,  particularly 
by  Smollett,  in  spite  of  Bob  Smith's  intimacy  with  both,  had 
been  put  about  the  Duke  of  York  as  his  mathematical  teacher, 
and  was  afterwards  his  secretary ;  he  also  had  been  recom 
mended  to  that  situation  by  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  through  Home, 
and  was  not  ungrateful.  Blair  was  a  good-natured,  pleasant 
fellow,  and  very  agreeable  to  everybody  who  could  bear  his 
flippancy  of  speech.  He  was,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  friendly 
men  in  the  world,  as  he  showed  in  many  instances,  from  pur 
chasing  a  pair  of  shoes  and  stockings  for  any  of  his  old  com 
panions,  to  providing  them  a  settlement  for  life.  He  got  to  be 
a  prebendary  in  Westminster  by  the  interest  of  the  Duke  of 
York  ;  and,  had  his  Royal  Highness  lived,  would  have  been 
promoted  to  the  bench  of  bishops.  He  was  senior  to  J.  Home 
and  me,  but  we  were  well  acquainted  at  college.  He  died  of 
the  influenza  in  1782.* 

John  Douglas,  who  has  for  some  time  been  Bishop  of  Salis 
bury,  and  who  is  one  of  the  most  able  and  learned  men  on 
that  bench,  had  at  this  time  but  small  preferment.  He  had 
been  tutor  to  Lord  Pulteney,  and  was  at  this  time  secretary  to 
Lord  Bath,  and  lived  with  him,  by  which  means  he  had  ac 
quired  a  very  exact  knowledge  of  the  Court,  as  well  as  of  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  and  all  their  connections.  I  became 
acquainted  with  him  at  this  time,  and  preserved  my  connec 
tion  with  him,  which  I  valued  much,  by  sundry  meetings  and 
frequent  correspondence.  He  is  still  living,  though  two  years 
older  than  me,  and  much  weakened  by  the  gout.  His  sister, 
Mrs.  Anderson,  who  at  this  time  kept  the  British  Coffee-house, 
was,  like  her  brother,  a  person  of  superior  character. 

Robertson  had  never  seen  Smollett,  and  was  very  desirous 
of  his  acquaintance.  By  this  time  the  Doctor  had  retired  to 
*  See  above,  p.  152. 


276  SMOLLETT. 

Chelsea,  and  came  seldom  to  town.  Home  and  I,  however, 
found  that  he  came  once  a  week  to  Forrest's  Coffee-house,  and 
sometimes  dined  there ;  so  we  managed  an  appointment  with 
him  on  his  day,  when  he  agreed  to  dine  with  us.  He  was 
now  become  a  great  man,  and  being  much  of  a  humorist,  was 
not  to  be  put  out  of  his  way.  Home  and  Robertson  and 
Smith  and  I  met  him  there,  when  he  had  several  of  his 
minions  about  him,  to  whom  he  prescribed  tasks  of  transla 
tion,  compilation,  or  abridgment,  which,  after  he  had  seen,  he 
recommended  to  the  booksellers.  We  dined  together,  and 
Smollett  was  very  brilliant.  Having  to  stay  all  night,  that 
we  might  spend  the  evening  together,  he  only  begged  leave 
to  withdraw  for  an  hour,  that  he  might  give  audience  to  his 
myrmidons  ;  we  insisted  that,  if  his  business  [permitted],  it 
should  be  in  the  room  where  we  sat.  The  Doctor  agreed,  and 
the  authors  were  introduced,  to  the  number  of  five,  I  think, 
most  of  whom  were  soon  dismissed.  He  kept  two,  however, 
to  supper,  whispering  to  us  that  he  believed  they  would  amuse 
us,  which  they  certainly  did,  for  they  were  curious  characters. 

We  passed  a  very  pleasant  and  joyful  evening.  When  we 
broke  up,  Robertson  expressed  great  surprise  at  the  polished 
and  agreeable  manners  and  the  great  urbanity  of  his  conver 
sation.  He  had  imagined  that  a  man's  manners  must  bear  a 
likeness  to  his  books,  and  as  Smollett  had  described  so  well  the 
characters  of  ruffians  and  profligates,  that  he  must,  of  course, 
resemble  them.  This  was  not  the  first  instance  we  had  of  the 
rawness,  in  respect  of  the  world,  that  still  blunted  our  saga 
cious  friend's  observations. 

As  Ferguson  had  one  day  in  the  week  when  he  could  be  in 
town,  we  established  a  club  at  a  coffee-house  in  Saville  Row  or 
Sackville  Street,  where  we  could  meet  him  at  dinner,  which 
we  did  every  Wednesday  at  three  o'clock.  There  were  J. 
Home,  and  Robertson,  and  Wedderburn,  and  Jack  Dalrymple, 


GARRICK  AND  JOHN  HOME.  277 

and  Bob  Adam,  Ferguson,  and  myself.  Wedderburn  brought 
with  him  an  attorney  of  the  name  of  Dagg,  a  little,  odd-looking, 
silent  fellow  to  be  sure,  whom  none  of  us  had  ever  seen  before, 
and  about  whom  Wedderburn  had  not  condescended  to  explain 
himself.  Somebody  was  appointed  to  talk  to  him,  and  to 
express  the  uneasiness  of  the  club  at  his  bringing  an  utter 
stranger  among  them.  His  answer  was,  that  Dagg  was  a 
very  important  friend  of  his,  who  was  extremely  desirous  to 
meet  that  company,  and  that  he  would  answer  for  his  silence 
and  discretion.  He  added  that  he  prayed  the  club  to  admit 
him,  for  he  learned  more  from  him  of  the  forms  of  English 
law,  in  his  walk  from  and  return  to  the  Temple,  than  he  could 
do  by  a  week's  reading.  This  excuse  was  admitted,  though 
some  of  us  thought  it  a  lame  one,  and  that  it  smelt  of  an 
assumed  superiority  that  we  did  not  admit  of.  As  Ferguson 
rode  back  to  Harrow,  we  always  parted  between  five  and  six 
o'clock ;  and  it  will  hardly  be  now  believed  that  our  reckon 
ing  never  exceeded  5s.  apiece.  We  had  a  very  good  dinner, 
and  plenty  of  punch,  &c.,  though  no  claret,  for  that  sum. 

Having  met,  we  generally  went  that  night  to  Drury  Lane 
Theatre,  Garrick  being  in  town.  I  had  frequent  opportunities 
of  being  in  company  with  this  celebrated  actor,  of  whom  Mr. 
Home  was  now  in  full  possession,  though  he  had  rejected  his 
tragedy  of  Douglas  as  totally  unfit  for  the  stage.  I  am  afraid 
it  was  not  his  own  more  mature  judgment  that  brought  him 
round,  but  his  idolatry  to  the  rising  sun,  for  he  had  observed 
what  a  hold  Home  had  got  of  Lord  Bute,  and,  by  his  means, 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  As  Garrick's  vanity  and  interested- 
ness  had  made  him  digest  the  mortification  of  seeing  Douglas 
already  become  the  most  popular  play  on  the  stage,  so  John 
Home's  facility,  and  the  hopes  of  getting  him  to  play  in  his 
future  tragedies,  made  him  forgive  Garrick's  former  want  of 
taste  and  judgment,  and  they  were  now  become  the  greatest 


278  GARRICK  AND  JOHN  HOME. 

friends  in  the  world.  If  anything  had  been  wanting  to  com 
plete  Garrick's  conquest  of  Home,  it  was  making  choice  of  him 
as  his  second  in  a  quarrel  he  had  with  Calcraft  (for  John  was 
very  heroic),  which  never  came  to  a  duel,  as  well  as  several 
other  quarrels  of  the  same  kind,  and  with  the  same  issue,  in 
which  John  was  chosen  second. 

Garrick,  though  not  of  an  understanding  of  the  first,  nor 
of  the  highest  cultivated  mind,  had  great  vivacity  and  quick 
ness,  and  was  very  entertaining  company.  Though  vanity 
was  his  prominent  feature,  and  a  troublesome  and  watchful 
jealousy  the  constant  visible  guard  of  his  reputation  to  a 
ridiculous  degree,  yet  his  desire  to  oblige,  his  want  of  arro 
gance,  and  the  delicacy  of  his  mimicry,  made  him  very  agree 
able.  He  had  no  affected  reserve,  but,  on  the  least  hint, 
would  start  up  at  any  time  and  give  the  company  one  of  his 
best  speeches.  As  Garrick  had  been  in  Dublin  when  I  was 
in  London  in  1746,  I  assiduously  attended  him  at  this  time, 
and  saw  him  in  all  his  principal  parts,  both  in  tragedy  and 
comedy.  He  used  to  say  himself,  that  he  was  more  at  home 
in  comedy  than  in  tragedy,  and  I  was  of  his  opinion.  I 
thought  I  could  conceive  something  more  perfect  in  tragedy, 
but  in  comedy  he  completely  filled  up  my  ideas  of  perfection. 
There  may  be  a  deception  in  this,  for  every  well-educated 
person  has  formed  to  himself  some  idea  of  the  characters, 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  tragedy,  and  if  the  actor  falls 
short  of  that,  he  is  thought  to  be  deficient  in  judgment : 
whereas  comedy  being  an  imitation  of  living  manners,  as 
they  rise  in  succession  among  inferior  orders  of  men,  the 
spectator  can  have  formed  no  rule  or  standard  of  judgment 
previous  to  the  representation,  but  must  accept  of  the  picture 
the  actor  gives  him,  and  must  approve  of  it,  if  it  is  lively, 
though  it  should  not  be  true. 

Garrick    was   so   friendly  to  John  Home  that  he  gave  a 


VISIT  TO  GARRICK.  279 

dinner  to  his  friends  and  companions  at  his  house  at  Hamp 
ton,  which  he  did  but  seldom.  He  had  told  us  to  bring  golf- 
clubs  and  balls  that  we  might  play  at  that  game  on  Molesly 
Hurst.  We  accordingly  set  out  in  good  time,  six  of  us  in  a 
landau.  As  we  passed  through  Kensington,  the  Coldstream 
regiment  were  changing  guard,  and,  on  seeing  our  clubs,  they 
gave  us  three  cheers  in  honor  of  a  diversion  peculiar  to  Scot 
land  ;  so  much  does  the  remembrance  of  one's  native  country 
dilate  the  heart,  when  one  has  been  some  time  absent.  The 
same  sentiment  made  us  open  our  purses,  and  give  our 
countrymen  wherewithal  to  drink  the  "  Land  o'  Cakes." 
Garrick  met  us  by  the  way,  so  impatient  he  seemed  to  be 
for  his  company.  There  were  John  Home,  and  Robertson, 
and  TVedderburn,  and  Robert  and  James  Adam,  and  Colonel 
David  Wedderburn,  who  was  killed  when  commander  of 
the  army  in  Bombay,  in  the  year  [1773].  He  was  held  by 
his  companions  to  be  in  every  respect  as  clever  and  able  a 
man  as  his  elder  brother  the  Chancellor,  with  a  much  more 
gay,  popular,  and  social  temper. 

Immediately  after  we  arrived,  we  crossed  the  river  to  the 
golfing-ground,  which  was  very  good.  None  of  the  company 
could  play  but  John  Home  and  myself,  and  Parson  Black 
from  Aberdeen,  who,  being  chaplain  to  a  regiment  during 
some  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland's  campaigns,  had  been 
pointed  out  to  his  Royal  Highness  as  a  proper  person  to 
teach  him  the  game  of  chess  :  the  Duke  was  such  an  apt 
scholar  that  he  never  lost  a  game  after  the  first  day  ;  and  he 
recompensed  Black  for  having  beat  him  so  cruelly,  by  procur 
ing  for  him  the  living  of  Hampton,  which  is  a  good  one.  We 
returned  and  dined  sumptuously,  Mrs.  Garrick,  the  only  lady, 
now  grown  fat,  though  still  very  lively,  being  a  woman  of 
uncommon  good  sense,  and  now  mistress  of  English,  was  in 
all  respects  most  agreeable  company.  She  did  not  seem  at  all 


280  VISIT  TO   GARRICK. 

to  recognize  me,  which  was  no  wonder,  at  the  end  of  twelve 
years,  having  thrown  away  my  bag-wig  and  sword,  and 
appearing  in  my  own  grizzly  hairs,  and  in  parson's  clothes ; 
nor  was  I  likely  to  remind  her  of  her  former  state.* 

Garrick  had  built  a  handsome  temple,  with  a  statue  of 
Shakespeare  in  it,  in  his  lower  garden,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames,  which  was  separated  from  the  upper  one  by  a  high 
road,  under  which  there  was  an  archway  which  united  the  two 
gardens.  Garrick,  in  compliment  to  Home,  had  ordered  the 
wine  to  be  carried  to  this  temple,  where  we  were  to  drink  it 
under  the  shade  of  the  copy  of  that  statue  to  which  Home 
had  addressed  his  pathetic  verses  on  the  rejection  of  his  play. 
The  poet  and  the  actor  were  equally  gay,  and  well  pleased 
with  each  other,  on  this  occasion,  with  much  respect  on  the 
one  hand,  and  a  total  oblivion  of  animosity  on  the  other ;  for 
vanity  is  a  passion  that  is  easy  to  be  entreated,  and  unites 
freely  with  all  the  best  affections.  Having  observed  a  green 
mount  in  the  garden,  opposite  the  archway,  I  said  to  our  land 
lord,  that  while  the  servants  were  preparing  the  collation  in 
the  temple  I  would  surprise  him  with  a  stroke  at  the  golf,  as  I 
should  drive  a  ball  through  his  archway  into  the  Thames  once 
in  three  strokes.  I  had  measured  the  distance  with  my  eye 
in  walking  about  the  garden,  and  accordingly,  at  the  second 
stroke,  made  the  ball  alight  in  the  mouth  of  the  gateway,  and 
roll  down  the  green  slope  into  the  river.  This  was  so  dex 
terous  that  he  was  quite  surprised,  and  begged  the  club  of  me 
by  which  such  a  feat  had  been  performed.  We  passed  a  very 
agreeable  afternoon ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say  which  were  hap 
pier,  the  landlord  and  landlady,  or  the  guests. 

There  was  a  club  in  London  where  Robertson  and  I  never 
failed  to  attend,  as  we  wTere  adopted  members  while  we  stayed 
in  town.  It  was  held  once  a  week  in  the  British  Coffee-house, 

*  See  above,  p.  150. 


SKETCHES  AND  INCIDENTS.  281 

at  eight  in  the  evening ;  the  members  were  Scotch  physicians 
from  the  city  and  Court  end  of  the  town.  Of  the  first  set 
were  Pitcairn,  Armstrong,  Orme,  and  Dickson  ;  of  the  second 
were  William  Hunter,  Clephan,  Mr.  Graham  of  Pall  Mall, 
&c.,  —  all  of  them  very  agreeable  men ;  Clephan  especially  was 
one  of  the  most  sensible,  learned,  and  judicious  men  I  ever 
knew,  —  an  admirable  classical  scholar  and  a  fine  historian. 
He  often  led  the  conversation,  but  it  was  with  an  air  of 
modesty  and  deference  to  the  company,  which  added  to  the 
weight  of  all  he  said.  Hunter  was  gay  and  lively  to  the  last 
degree,  and  often  came  in  to  us  at  nine  o'clock  fatigued  and 
jaded.  He  had  had  no  dinner,  but  supped  on  a  couple  of 
eggs,  and  drank  his  glass  of  claret ;  for  though  we  were  a 
punch  club,  we  allowed  him  a  bottle  of  what  he  liked  best. 
He  repaid  us  with  the  brilliancy  of  his  conversation.  His 
toast  was,  "  May  no  English  nobleman  venture  out  of  the 
world  without  a  Scottish  physician,  as  I  am  sure  there  are 
none  who  venture  in."  He  was  a  famous  lecturer  on  anat 
omy.  Robertson  and  I  expressed  a  wish  to  be  admitted  one 
day.  He  appointed  us  a  day,  and  gave  us  one  of  the  most 
elegant,  clear,  and  brilliant  lectures  on  the  eye  that  any  of  us 
had  ever  heard.  One  instance  I  must  set  down  of  the  fallacy 
of  medical  prediction  —  it  was  this :  Dr.  Hunter,  by  his 
attendance  on  Lady  Esther  Pitt,  had  frequent  opportunities 
of  seeing  the  great  orator  when  he  was  ill  of  the  gout,  and 
thought  so  ill  of  his  constitution  that  he  said  more  than  once 
to  us,  with  deep  regret,  that  he  did  not  think  the  great  man's 
life  worth  two  year's  purchase  ;  and  yet  Mr.  Pitt  lived  for 
twenty  years,  for  he  did  not  give  way  to  fate  till  1778. 

As  soon  as  my  sister  got  into  her  house  in  a  court  in  Alder- 
mansbury,  Dr.  Dickson  and  she  gave  a  dinner  to  my  friends, 
with  two  or  three  of  his.  There  were  Drs.  Pitcairn,  Arm 
strong,  Smollett,  and  Orme,  together  with  Dr.  Robertson, 


282  SKETCHES  AND  INCIDENTS. 

John  Blair,  Home,  and  myself.  We  passed  an  exceedingly 
pleasant  day,  although  Smollett  had  given  Armstrong  a  stag 
gering  blow  at  the  beginning  of  dinner,  by  asking  him  some 
questions  about  his  nose,  which  was  still  patched,  on  account 
of  his  having  run  it  through  the  side-glass  of  his  chariot  when 
somebody  came  up  to  speak  to  him.  Armstrong  was  natu 
rally  glumpy,  and  this,  I  was  afraid,  would  have  silenced  him 
all  day,  which  it  might,  had  not  Smollett  called  him  familiarly 
John,  soon  after  his  joke  on  his  nose  ;  but  he  knew  that  Smol 
lett  loved  and  respected  him,  and  soon  recovered  his  good 
humor,  and  became  brilliant.  My  sister,  who  had  one  lady 
with  her  —  one  of  Pitcairn's  nieces,  I  believe  —  was  happy 
and  agreeable,  and  highly  pleasing  to  her  guests,  who  con 
fessed  they  had  seldom  seen  such  a  superior  woman. 

There  was  a  friend  of  Dickson's,  a  Mr.  Jackson,  a  Dumfries 
man  and  an  Irish  factor,  as  they  are  called,  who  was  a  great 
humorist,  who,  though  he  had  no  carriage,  kept  six  hunting- 
horses.  This  man  offered  to  mount  us  on  his  horses,  and  go 
with  us  to  Windsor.  After  a  breakfast-dinner  at  his  partner's, 
we  set  out  on  the  16th  day  of  April,  the  warmest  that  had 
been  that  season.  As  the  great  road  was  very  disagreeable, 
Jackson,  who  knew  the  environs  of  London  better  than  most 
people,  as  he  belonged  to  a  hunt,  took  us  through  green  lanes 
as  soon  as  he  could,  and,  giving  us  a  little  wine  and  water 
when  he  pleased,  which  was,  he  said,  whenever  he  came  to 
good  port,  he  landed  us  at  Staines  Bridge,  in  a  very  good  inn 
across  the  bridge.  His  servant,  who  rode  an  unruly  horse, 
had  been  thrown  from  him  half  an  hour  before  we  reached 
Staines.  He  was  very  much  hurt  about  the  head,  and  with 
difficulty  we  brought  him  along  at  a  slow  pace.  When  we 
arrived,  Jackson  sent  immediately  for  the  nearest  surgeon, 
who  was  a  Mr.  Green.  This  man  examined  the  servant,  and 
found  he  was  not  dangerously  hurt,  and  Jackson  invited  him 


SKETCHES  AND  INCIDENTS.  283 

to  stay  supper,  which  he  did,  and  turned  out  a  very  sensible, 
conversible  man.  He  spoke  English  so  well  that  we  could  not 
have  detected  him  to  be  a  Scotchman,  far  less  an  Aberdeensman, 
which  he  was  ;  but  he  had  gone  very  young  into  the  navy  as 
surgeon's-mate,  and  had  entirely  lost  his  mother-tongue,  —  al 
most  the  only  instance  1  ever  knew  of  any  one  from  that  shire. 
There  was  a  poor  Scotch  Presbyterian,  who  had  a  very  small 
living ;  Jackson  had  a  small  present  of  two  guineas  to  give 
him,  for  the  humorist  was  not  ungenerous.  lie  sent  for  him 
in  the  morning,  and  promised  him  a  sermon  in  his  meeting 
house,  for  it  was  Sunday,  and  kept  him  to  breakfast.  I  had 
been  prepared  to  do  this  duty,  for  Jackson  and  I  slept  in  the 
same  room,  and  he  had  requested  it  as  a  favor,  as  he  said  the 
meeting  and  the  audience  were  very  poor  indeed.  I  was 
dressed,  and  went  down  to  breakfast,  and  was  introduced  to 
Mr.  Coldstream.  Soon  afterwards  came  Robertson,  undressed, 
and  with  his  nightcap  on,  and,  being  introduced  to  Coldstream, 
took  no  further  notice  of  him  (not  his  usual  manner),  and 
breakfasted  in  silence.  When  the  minister  took  his  leave,  he 
called  Jackson  aside,  and  said  he  hoped  he  remembered  he 
never  employed  any  of  the  people  called  Methodists.  This 
was  resolute  in  a  man  who  had  a  wife  and  four  children,  and 
only  £20  a  year,  to  a  gentleman  who  had  just  made  him  a 
present  of  two  guineas.  Jackson  assured  him  that  none  of  us 
were  Methodists,  but  that  I  was  the  person  he  had  engaged  to 
preach.  I  made  Robertson's  being  taken  for  a  Methodist  a 
lasting  joke  against  him. 

We  went  to  the  meeting-house  at  the  hour  of  eleven,  the 
entry  to  which  was  over  a  pretty  large  dunghill.  Although 
the  congregation  was  reinforced  by  two  officers  of  the  Grey 
dragoons,  and  by  a  corporal  and  an  officer's  man,  with  Jack 
son's  man  with  his  head  bound  up,  with  the  Doctor  and 
Jackson  and  Coldstream  and  his  wife,  they  amounted  only  to 


284  SKETCHES  AND  INCIDENTS. 

twenty-three.  There  were  two  brothers,  Scotchmen,  clothiers, 
who  were  there,  who  invited  us  to  dinner.  We  repaired  to 
them  at  one  o'clock,  and  after  walking  round  their  garden, 
and  being  much  delighted  with  two  swans  swimming  in  the 
Thames,  whom  they  had  attached  to  them  by  kindness,  we  sat 
down  to  an  excellent  citizen-like  dinner,  and  drank  some  ex 
cellent  port-wine.  Robertson  and  I  bespoke  a  piece  of  par 
son's  gray  cloth  of  their  making,  which  they  sent  to  Scotland 
before  us,  and  which  turned  out  the  best  we  ever  had.  We 
divided  it  among  our  friends.  Before  five  o'clock  we  mounted 
our  horses  by  order  of  our  conductor,  and  rode  to  Windsor 
Forest,  where,  in  spite  of  the  warm  weather  before,  we  found 
the  frost  hard  enough  to  bear  our  horses.  We  returned  with 
out  going  into  Windsor.  Next  day  AVC  went  there  time  enough 
to  see  the  castle  and  all  its  curiosities,  and  to  go  down  to  Eton, 
after  which  we  dined  at  an  inn  and  rode  back  to  Staines,  mak 
ing  a  circuit  round  the  great  park.  Much  to  our  satisfaction, 
we  found  Dr.  Green  waiting  us,  whom  Jackson  had  appointed 
to  meet  us. 

Jackson  wished  us  to  take  a  circuitous  ride  and  see  every 
thing  down  the  Thames  to  London ;  but  as  we  were  engaged 
with  a  party  of  friends  to  dine  at  Billingsgate  on  fish  of  the 
season,  we  took  leave  of  Mr.  Jackson,  and  left  him  to  come 
at  his  leisure,  while  we  made  the  best  of  our  way  down  the 
Thames,  and  halted  only  at  Richmond,  where  Robertson  had 
never  been. 

We  arrived  in  time  to  meet  our  friends  at  the  Gun,  where 
Dr.  Dickson  had  provided  a  choice  dinner  of  all  the  varieties 
of  fish  then  in  season,  at  the  moderate  price  of  twenty-five 
shillings,  one  crown  of  which  was  paid  for  smelts.  We  were 
a  company  of  fifteen  or  sixteen,  whose  names  I  can't  exactly 
remember,  but  when  I  say  that  there  were  Sir  David  Kinloch, 
James  Veitch  (Elliock),  Sir  Robert  Keith,  then  only  a  captain 


SKETCHES  AND   INCIDENTS.  285 

in  the  Scotch  Dutch,  Robertson,  Home,  &c.,  I  need  not  say 
that  we  were  gay  and  jovial.  An  incident  contributed  not  a 
little  to  our  mirth.  Charles  Congalton,  who  happened  to  sit 
next  to  Sir  David,  our  preses,  it  was  observed,  never  filled 
above  a  thimbleful  in  his  glass,  when  being  asked  the  reason, 
he  said  he  could  not  drink  any  of  their  London  port,  there 
was  such  a  drawing-togetlierness  in  it.  "  Ring  the  bell,  Char 
lie,"  said  our  preses,  "  and  we  will  learn  if  we  can't  get  a 
bottle  of  claret  for  you."  The  bell  was  rung,  the  claret  came, 
and  was  pronounced  very  good  by  the  Baronet  and  his  doctor. 
The  whole  company  soon  joined  in  that  liquor,  without  which 
no  Scotch  gentleman  in  those  days  could  be  exhilarated.  Bob 
Keith  sung  all  his  ludicro-us  songs,  and  repeated  all  his  comic 
verses,  and  gave  us  a  foretaste  of  that  delightful  company 
which  he  continued  to  be  to  the  end  of  his  days.  His  cousin, 
Charles  Dalrymple,  was  only  behind  him  in  humorous  descrip 
tion  and  naive  remark,  —  as  much  only  as  he  was  in  age  and 
the  habits  of  company.  Our  reckoning  by  this  means,  how 
ever,  turned  out,  instead  of  five  shillings  and  sixpence,  as 
Dickson  had  supposed,  to  be  three  times  that  sum.  The 
Baronet  and  Doctor  were  to  set  out  in  a  few  days  to  France, 
on  their  way  to  Barege. 

I  shall  here  mention  an  anecdote  which  struck  me  as  a 
proof  of  the  wonderful  carelessness  of  physicians.  Supping 
one  night  with  Duncan  Forbes,  Sir  David,  Lord  Elliock,  and 
sundry  physicians,  while  four  of  us  were  playing  at  whist, 
Lord  Elliock  took  up  a  book,  and  after  reading  a  while  called 
out,  "  Sir  David,  here  is  your  case,  and  a  perfect  cure  for  it, 
that  I  find  in  this  book."  He  then  read  an  account  of  the 
great  effect  of  the  waters  of -Barege,  in  the  south  of  France, 
for  such  complaints  as  the  Baronet  labored  under.  "  Have 
you  heard  of  this  before,  Sir  David?"  uNo,  never,"  answered 
he.  "  Is  it  new  to  the  Faculty  ?  "  said  he  to  Armstrong,  who 


286  CHARLES  TOWNSHEND. 

was  sitting  near  him.  "  No,"  replied  the  crusty  Doctor,  "  but 
we  never  thought  of  prescribing  it,  as  we  knew  that  he  was 
such  a  coward  that  he  would  rather  be  damned  by  a  fistula 
than  cross  the  Channel  in  a  packet-boat,  especially  in  time  of 
a  French  war."  Sir  David,  having  his  pride  irritated  by  this 
attack,  did  go  to  Barege,  and  completed  a  cure  which  had  been 
made  by  Dr.  Ward. 

As  I  had  been  introduced  to  the  Duke  of  Argyle  in  the 
autumn  before  in  Scotland,  I  went  sometimes  to  his  evening 
parties,  which  were  very  pleasant.  He  let  in  certain  friends 
every  night  about  seven  o'clock,  when,  after  tea  and  coffee, 
there  were  parties  at  sixpenny  whist,  his  Grace  never  playing 
higher.  About  nine  there  was  a  sideboard  of  cold  victuals 
and  wine,  to  which  everybody  resorted  in  his  turn.  There 
was  seldom  or  ever  any  drinking,  —  never,  indeed,  but  when 
some  of  his  favorite  young  men  came  in,  such  as  Alexander 
Lord  Eglinton,  William  Lord  Home,  &c.,  when  the  old  gentle 
man  would  rouse  himself  and  call  for  burgundy  and  cham 
pagne,  and  prolong  the  feast  to  a  late  hour.  In  general  the 
company  parted  at  eleven.  There  could  not  be  a  more  ra 
tional  way  of  passing  the  evening,  for  the  Duke  had  a  wide 
range  of  knowledge,  and  was  very  open  and  communicative. 

The  Right  Honorable  Charles  Townshend,  my  old  friend, 
had  married  Lady  Dalkeith,  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch's  mother. 
Home,  who  was  become  intimate  with  him,  took  me  there  one 
morning,  after  having  told  him  I  was  in  town,  and  intended  to 
call.  He  received  me  with  ppen  arms,  and  was  perfectly  fa 
miliar,  but  not  a  hint  of  having  seen  me  before.  He  held  the 
same  demeanor  to  Jack  Campbell,  Lord  Stonefield,  who  had 
married  one  of  Lord  Bute's  sisters  ;  and  in  spite  of  our  in 
timacy  afterwards  in  Scotland,  he  never  made  the  most  dis 
tant  allusion  to  anything  that  had  happened  at  Leyden.  The 
Duke  of  Buccleuch,  and  his  brother  Campbell  Scott,  were  in 


THE  BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY.  287 

town  for  the  Easter  holidays.  Mr.  Scott  was  much  handsomer 
and  more  forward  than  the  Duke,  who  was  at  a  table  in  the 
room  where  there  were  some  books.  The  young  Duke,  then 
not  twelve  years  of  age,  was  turning  over  the  leaves  of  a  book. 
"  Come  along,  Duke,"  says  Charles  ;  "  I  see  what  you  would 
be  at,  silent  as  you  are  ;  show  the  gentlemen  that  dedication 
you  are  so  fond  of."  The  Duke  slipt  down  the  book  on  the 
table,  and  blushed  to  the  eyes,  retiring  a  step  or  two  from  it. 
I  took  up  the  book,  and  soon  saw  it  was  Barclay  the  school 
master's  Latin  Grammar,  which  he  had  dedicated  to  his  pat 
ron.  "  The  Duke,"  says  I,  "  need  not  be  ashamed  of  this 
dedication,  for  the  author  of  it  is  one  of  the  best  schoolmasters 
and  grammarians  of  any  in  Scotland,  and  has  brought  the 
school  at  Dalkeith  to  its  former  name  and  lustre."  This  re 
assured  the  young  man,  and  he  smiled  with  some  satisfaction. 
Little  did  I  think  at  that  time  that  I  should  live  to  see  his 
Grace  the  most  respected  and  the  most  deservedly  popular  of 
any  nobleman  in  Scotland.  A  few  days  after  this  we  dined 
with  Mr.  Townshend  and  the  Countess,  and  one  or  two  gentle 
men,  but  the  boys  had  returned  to  school. 

The  clergy  of  Scotland,  being  under  apprehensions  that  the 
window-tax  would  be  extended  to  them,  had  given  me  in 
charge  to  state  our  case  to  some  of  the  ministers,  and  try  to 
make  an  impression  in  our  favor.  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  listened 
to  me,  and  was  friendly ;  Marchmont  pretended  not  to  under 
stand  my  statement,  and  was  dry.  But  the  only  man  who 
really  understood  the  business,  and  seemed  ready  to  enter  into 
it  with  zeal,  was  Jeremiah  Dyson,  who,  having  been  a  Dis 
senter,  and  two  years  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  and 
withal  very  acute,  perfectly  comprehended  my  argument,  and 
was  willing  to  assist  in  procuring  an  exemption.  "Without 
Robert  Dundas,  then  Lord  Advocate,  nothing,  however,  could 
be  done.  I  waited  on  him,  and  was  received  in  his  usual 


288  THE   ADAMS. 

way,  with  frankness  and  familiarity  enough  ;  but  he  did  not 
think  he  could  do  anything,  but  deferred  saying  much  about 
it  till  some  future  day,  when  he  would  have  some  friends  with 
me  to  dinner,  and  talk  over  the  affair.  This  cold  or  rather 
haughty  reception,  added  to  some  very  slighting  or  calumnious 
sayings  of  his,  both  about  Robertson  and  me,  provoked  us  not 
a  little,  and  revived  the  resentment  we  felt  at  his  unhandsome 
behavior  about  the  tragedy  of  Douglas. 

Our  time  drew  near  for  returning,  which  we  were  to  do  on 
horseback,  and  with  that  we  set  about  furnishing  ourselves 
with  horses.  Home  had  his  Piercy  in  town,  and  James  Adam 
(who  was  to  be  our  companion)  had  one  also,  so  that  Robert 
son  and  I  only  were  to  be  provided,  which  we  did  without  loss 
of  time.  We  had  some  inclination  to  be  introduced  to  Lord 
Bute,  which  John  promised  to  do  ;  and  for  Robert  Adam  also, 
who  could  derive  more  benefit  from  it  than  any  of  us.  Robert 
had  been  three  years  in  Italy,  and,  with  a  first-rate  genius  for 
his  profession,  had  seen  and  studied  everything,  and  was  iu 
the  highest  esteem  among  foreign  artists.  From  the  time  of 
his  return  —  viz.  in  February  or  March,  1758  —  may  be 
dated  a  very  remarkable  improvement  in  building  and  furni 
ture,  and  even  stoneware,  in  London  and  every  part  of  Eng 
land.*  As  John  put  off  the  time  of  our  introduction  to  his 
great  man,  we  yielded  to  a  request  of  our  friend  Sir  David 
Kinloch  to  accompany  him  on  a  jaunt  he  wished  to  make  to 
Portsmouth.  Home  had  signified  his  design  to  Lord  Bute, 
who  had  agreed  to  his  absence  for  a  few  days  ;  and  having 
obtained  a  letter  from  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  then  a  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty,  to  Lieutenant  Brett,  clerk  of  the  cheque  at  Ports- 

*  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  two  Adams,  so  often  referred 
to,  were  the  architects  of  the  many  public  and  private  buildings,  of  some 
of  which  an  account  will  be  found  in  their  work,  called  The  Works  in 
Architecture  of  Robert  and  James  Adam.  —  ED. 


MARITIME  ADVENTURES.  289 

mouth,  we  set  out,  the  Baronet  and  his  doctor  in  a  chaise,  and 
we  three  on  horseback.  As  it  was  towards  the  end  of  April, 
and  the  weather  good,  we  had  a  very  agreeable  journey.  We 
wrere  much  pleased  with  the  diversified  beauty  of  the  country, 
though  not  a  little  surprised  with  the  great  extent  of  unculti 
vated  heath  which  we  went  through.  We  viewed  with  much 
pleasure  and  exultation  the  solid  foundation  of  the  naval  glory 
of  Great  Britain,  in  the  amazing  extent  and  richness  of  the 
dockyards  and  warehouses,  &c.,  and  in  the  grandeur  of  her 
fleet  in  the  harbor  and  in  the  downs.  It  appeared  a  new 
world  to  us,  and  our  wonder  had  not  ceased  during  all  the 
four  days  we  remained  there.  We  had  good  mutton  and  good 
wine  (claret)  at  the  inn,  and,  above  all,  an  additional  compan 
ion,  Mr.  Richard  Oswald  (he  who  had  so  much  hand  in  the 
peace  of  Paris  long  after),  who  was  a  man  of  great  knowledge 
and  ready  conversation.  There  was  a  fine  fleet  of  ten  ships 
of  the  line  in  the  Downs,  with  the  Royal  George  at  their 
head,  all  ready  for  sea,  and  one  of  our  great  objects  was  to 
get  on  board  that  ship,  which  was  always  kept  in  the  highest 
order  for  the  admittance  of  visitors.  The  short  voyage  was 
proposed  every  night,  but  was  put  off  daily,  as  a  land-wind 
came  on  soon  after  breakfast.  As  we  were  only  to  stay  one 
day  longer,  Congalton  and  I  in  despair  went  in  the  evening  to 
Lieutenant  Brett  and  stated  our  case  to  him.  He  said  there 
was  but  one  remedy,  which  was  for  him  to  ask  Sir  David  and 
us  all  to  breakfast  next  morning  at  eight ;  that  his  dockyard 
sloop,  in  which  he  could  sail  to  America,  should  be  at  hand 
and  ready  at  nine,  and  that  we  might  get  to  the  Royal  George, 
not  above  three  miles  off,  before  the  mackerel  breeze  sprung 
up. 

This  plan  was  accordingly  put  in  execution,  but  it  being 
half  past  nine  before  we  got  on  board,  the  breeze  got  up  be 
fore  we  reached  the  fleet ;  and  the  moment  it  arose,  fear  and 
18  8 


290  MARITIME  ADVENTURES. 

sickness  began  to  operate  on  our  friends,  their  countenances 
grew  pale,  and  the  poet  grew  very  vociferous  for  our  imme 
diate  return.  Our  pilot,  however,  -held  on  his  course,  and 
assured  them  that  there  was  not  the  smallest  danger,  and  that 
the  moment  they  set  their  feet  in  the  Royal  George,  their 
sickness  would  leave  them.  Congalton  and  I  were  quite  dis 
concerted,  and  did  not  know  what  to  do.  Brett  continued  to 
assert  that  we  might  board  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  without 
the  least  danger ;  but  as  we  approached  the  ship  their  fears 
became  so  noisy  and  so  unmanly  that  Brett  yielded,  and  said 
it  would  be  better  to  sail  round  the  ship  and  return,  lest  the 
breeze  should  increase.  Dr.  Congalton  and  I  -were  much  dis 
appointed,  as  this  was  probably  the  only  opportunity  we  should 
have  of  seeing  so  fine  a  ship  again. 

"We  behoved  to  yield,  however,  and,  what  was  remarkable, 
the  moment  we  set  our  heads  towards  land  their  sickness 
entirely  abated,  and  they  got  into  spirits  —  Robertson  was  the 
only  one  of  them  who  had  thrown  up  his  breakfast.  When 
we  arrived  near  the  harbor,  we  overtook  the  Ramilies,  a 
ninety-gun  ship,  just  entering  the  port.  Mr.  Brett  proposed 
that  we  should  go  on  board  her,  when  we  should  see  her 
rigging  completely  manned,  a  sight  that  in  some  degree 
would  compensate  our  not  seeing  the  Royal  George.  Our 
friends  were  delighted  with  this  proposal,  and  John  Home 
exulted  provokingly  on  the  superiority  of  the  sight  we  were 
so  fortunately  going  to  have.  We  had  no  sooner  set  foot  on 
the  deck  than  an  officer  came  up  to  us,  bawling,  "God  pre 
serve  us !  what  has  brought  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh 
here  ?  for,  damn  me,  if  there  is  not  Willy  Robertson,  Sandie 
Carlyle,  and  John  Home  come  on  board."  This  turned  out 
to  be  a  Lieutenant  Neilson,  a  cousin  of  Robertson,  who  knew 
us  all,  who  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome,  and  carried  us  to  his 
cabin,  and  treated  us  to  white  wine  and  salt  beef. 


LORD  BUTE.  291 

The  remainder  of  this  day  we  passed  in  seeing  what  we 
had  omitted,  particularly  the  Point  after  it  was  dark,  or  rather 
towards  midnight,  —  a  scene  of  wonder,  and  even  horror,  to 
the  civilized.  Next  day  we  took  our  departure,  and  sleeping 
a  night  by  the  way,  as  we  had  done  going  down,  we  arrived 
in  London,  and  prepared  in  good  earnest  to  set  out  on  our 
journey  north.  The  day  was  at  last  appointed  for  our  being 
introduced  to  the  great  man,  and  we  resolved  among  ourselves, 
that  if  he  gave  us  an  invitation  to  dine  with  him  on  an  early 
day,  we  would  stay  for  it,  though  contrary  to  our  plan. 

*John  Home's  tragedy  of  Agis  had  been  acted  this  season 
with  tolerably  good  success,  for  it  ran  the  nine  nights,  and  the 
author  made  some  hundreds  by  it.  Garrick  had  acted  the 
part  of  Lysander,  as  he  did  a  year  or  two  later  that  of 
Emilius  in  the  Siege  of  Aquileia,  which  I  think  superior  in 
merit  to  Agis.  I  had  undertaken  to  review  this  play  for  the 
British  Magazine  (Smollett's),  but  had  been  indolent ;  and  it 
now  cost  me  to  sit  up  all  night  to  write  it,  and  I  was  obliged 
to  give  it  to  the  press  blotted  and  interlined,  —  but  they  are 
accustomed  to  decypher  the  most  difficult  hands. 

The  day  came  when  we  were  presented  to  Lord  Bute,  but 
our  reception  was  so  dry  and  cold,  that  when  he  asked  when 
we  were  to  go  north,  one  of  us  said  to-morrow.  He  received 
us  booted  and  spurred,  which  in  those  days  was  a  certain 
signal  for  going  a  riding,  and  an  apology  for  not  desiring  us 
to  sit  down.  We  very  soon  took  our  leave,  and  no  sooner 
were  we  out  of  hearing,  than  Robert  Adam,  who  was  with  us, 
fell  a  cursing  and  swearing.  "  What !  had  he  been  presented 
to  all  the  princes  in  Italy  and  France,  and  most  graciously 
received,  to  come  and  be  treated  with  such  distance  and  pride 
by  the  youngest  earl  but  one  in  all  Scotland  ?  "  They  were 
better  friends  afterwards,  and  Robert  found  him  a  kind  patron, 
when  his  professional  merit  was  made  known  to  him.  When 


292  LORD  BUTE. 

I  was  riding  with  Home  in  Hyde  Park  a  week  before,  trying 
the  horse  I  bought,  we  met  his  Lordship,  to  whom  Home  then 
introduced  me,  and  we  rode  together  for  half  an  hour,  when  I 
had  a  very  agreeable  chat  with  his  Lordship  ;  but  he  was  a 
different  man  when  he  received  audience.  To  dismiss  the 
subject,  however,  I  believe  he  was  a  very  worthy  and  virtuous 
man,  —  a  man  of  taste,  and  a  good  belles-lettres  scholar,  and 
that  he  trained  up  the  prince  in  true  patriotic  principles  and  a 
love  of  the  constitution,  though  his  own  mind  was  of  the  Tory 
cast,  with  a  partiality  to  the  family  of  Stuart,  of  whom  he 
believed  he  was  descended.  But  he  proved  himself  unfit  for 
the  station  he  had  assumed,  being  not  versatile  enough  for  a 
prime  minister ;  and,  though  personally  brave,  yet  void  of 
that  political  firmness  which  is  necessary  to  stand  the  storms 
of  state.  The  nobility  and  gentry  of  England  had  paid  court 
to  him  wdth  such  abject  servility  when  the  accession  of  his 
pupil  drew  near,  and  immediately  after  it  took  place,  that  it 
was  no  wonder  he  should  behave  to  them  with  haughtiness 
and  disdain,  and  with  a  spirit  of  domination.  As  soon,  how 
ever,  as  he  was  tried  and  known,  and  the  disappointed  hopes 
of  the  courtiers  had  restored  them  to  the  exercise  of  their 
manhood,  he  showed  a  wavering  and  uncertain  disposition, 
which  discovered  to  them  that  he  could  be  overthrown.  The 
misfortune  of  great  men  in  such  circumstances  is,  .that  they 
have  few  or  no  personal  friends  on  whose  counsels  they^  can 
rely.  There  were  two  such  about  him,  who  enjoyed  his 
confidence  and  favor,  Sir  Harry  Erskine  and  John  Home. 
The  first,  I  believe,  was  a  truly  honest  man,  but  his  views 
were  not  extensive  nor  his  talents  great ;  the  second  had 
better  talents,  but  they  were  not  at  all  adapted  to  business. 
Besides  ambition  and  pride  to  a  high  degree,  Lord  Bute  had 
an  insatiable  vanity,  which  nothing  could  allay  but  Home's 
incessant  flattery,  which  being  ardent  and  sincere,  and  blind 


LORD  BUTE.  293 

and  incessant,  like  that  of  a  passionate  lover,  pleased  the 
jealous  and  supercilious  mind  of  the  Thane.  He  knew  John 
to  be  a  man  of  honor  and  his  friend,  and  though  his  discern 
ment  pointed  out  the  excess  of  John's  praises,  yet  his  ardor 
and  sincerity  made  it  all  take  place  on  a  temper  and  character 
made  accessible  by  vanity.  With  respect  to  John  himself,  his 
mind  and  manners  had  always  been  the  same.  He  flattered 
Lord  Milton,  and  even  Adam  Ferguson  and  me,  as  much  as 
he  did  Lord  Bute  in  the  zenith  of  his  power.  What  demon 
strates  the  artlessness  and  purity  of  John's  mind  was,  that  he 
never  asked  anything  for  himself,  though  he  had  the  undis 
puted  ear  of  the  Prime  Minister.  Even  those  who  envied 
John  for  the  place  of  favor  he  held,  exclaimed  against  the 
chief  for  doing  so  little  for  the  man  of  his  right  hand ;  and 
John  might  have  starved  on  a  scanty  pension  (for  he  was 
required  to  be  in  attendance  in  London  for  more  than  half 
the  year),  had  not  Ferguson  and  I  taken  advantage  of  a 
vacancy  of  an  office  in  Scotland,  and  pressed  Lord  Milton  to 
procure  the  Lord  Conservator's  place  for  him,  which  more 
than  doubled  his  income.*  But  though  Home  was  careless 
of  himself,  he  was  warm  and  active  at  all  times  for  the  inter 
est  of  his  friends,  and  served  a  greater  number  of  people 
effectually  than  it  had  been  in  the  power  of  any  private  man 
to  do  before,  some  few  of  whom  proved  themselves  not  worthy 
of  his  friendship. 

We  now  were  to  leave  London,  and  made  all  suitable  prep 
arations  ;  and  finding  that  there  was  a  horse  at  Donaldson's, 
at  the  Orange  Tree  Inn,  which  the  owner  wished  to  have 
down  to  Edinburgh,  we  undertook  to  take  him  with  us,  and 
hired  a  man  to  ride  him  and  carry  our  baggage.  As 
there  were  four  of  us,  we  found  one  servant  too  few,  to  our 

*  The  then  sinecure  office  of  Conservator  of  Scots  Privileges  at  Camp- 
vere.  —  ED. 


294  RAMBLE  IN  ENGLAND. 

great  inconveniency.  As  the  Adams  were  a  wonderfully 
loving  family,  and  their  youngest  brother  James  was  going 
down  with  us,  the  rest  of  the  sisters  and  brothers  would  ac 
company  us  as  far  as  Uxbridge  (a  very  needless  ceremony, 
some  of  us  thought)  ;  but  since  we  were  to  be  so  numerous, 
my  sister  thought  of  joining  the  party.  We  passed  a  very 
cheerful  evening,  in  spite  of  the  melancholy  parting  we  had  in 
view.  We  parted,  however,  next  morning,  and  we  made  the 
best  of  our  way  to  Oxford,  halting  for  an  hour  at  Bulstrode,  a 
seat  of  the  Duke  of  Portland's,  where  we  viewed  the  park, 
the  house,  and  the  chapel,  which  pleased  us  much,  especially 
the  last,  which  was  ornamented  in  true  taste  as  a  place  of 
worship.  The  chapel,  which  is  still  met  with  in  many  noble 
men's  houses  in  England,  was  a  mark  of  the  residence  of  ? 
great  family,  which  was  striking  and  agreeable.  It  was  here 
that  we  discovered  the  truth  of  what  I  had  often  heard,  that 
most  of  the  head-gardeners  of  English  noblemen  were  Scotch, 
for  on  observing  to  this  man  that  his  pease  seemed  late  on  the 
4th  of  May,  not  being  then  fully  in  bloom,  and  that  I  was 
certain  there  were  sundry  places  which  I  knew  in  Scotland 
where  they  were  further  advanced,  he  answered  that  he  was 
bred  in  a  place  that  I  perhaps  did  not  know  that  answered  this 
description.  This  was  Newhaills,  in  my  own  parish  of  In- 
veresk.  This  man,  whose  name  I  have  forgot,  if  it  was  not 
Robertson,  was  not  only  gardener  but  land-steward,  and  had 
the  charge  of  the  whole  park  and  of  the  estate  around  it ;  — 
such  advantage  was  there  in  having  been  taught  writing,  arith 
metic,  and  the  mensuration  of  land,  the  rudiments  of  which 
were  taught  in  many  of  the  country  schools  of  Scotland. 
This  man  gave  us  a  note  to  the  gardener  at  Blenheim,  who, 
he  told  us,  was  our  countryman,  and  would  furnish  us  with 
notes  to  the  head-gardeners  all  the  way  down. 

We  arrived  at  Oxford  before  dinner,  and   put  up  at  the 


RAMBLE  IN  ENGLAND.  295 

Angel  Inn.  Robertson  and  Adam,  who  had  never  been  there 
before,  had  everything  to  see :  Home  and  I  had  been  there 
before.  John  Douglas,  who  knew  we  were  coming,  was 
passing  trials  for  his  degree  of  D.D.,  and  that  very  day  was 
in  the  act  of  one  of  his  wall-lectures,  as  they  are  called,  for 
there  is  no  audience.  At  that  university,  it  seems,  the  trial  is 
strict  when  one  takes  a  Master's  or  Bachelor's,  but  slack  when 
you  come  to  the  Doctor's  Degree ;  and  vice  versa  at  Cam 
bridge.  However  that  be,  we  found  Douglas  sitting  in  a  pul 
pit,  in  one  of  their  chapels,  with  not  a  soul  to  hear  him  but 
three  old  beggar-women,  who  came  to  try  if  they  might  get 
some  charity.  On  seeing  us  four  enter  the  chapel,  he  talked 
to  us  and  wished  us  away,  otherwise  he  would  be  obliged  to 
lecture.  We  would  not  go  away,  we  answered,  as  we  wished 
a  specimen  of  Oxford  learning ;  on  which  he  read  two  or 
three  verses  out  of  the  Greek  Testament,  and  began  to  ex 
pound  it  in  Latin.  We  listened  for  five  minutes,  and  then, 
telling  where  we  were  to  dine,  we  left  him  to  walk  about. 
Douglas  came  to  dinner ;  and  in  the  evening  Messrs.  Foster 
and  Vivian,  of  Baliol  College,  came  to  us  to  ask  us  to  a  col 
lation,  to  be  given  us  by  that  society  next  day.  They  were 
well-informed  and  liberal-minded  men,  but  from  them  and 
their  conversation  we  learned  that  this  was  far  from  applying 
to  the  generality  of  the  university.  We  stayed  all  next  day, 
and  passed  a  very  agreeable  evening  at  Baliol  College,  where 
several  more  Fellows  were  assembled. 

Next  morning  we  set  out  early  for  Woodstock,  where  we 
breakfasted,  and  went  to  see  Blenheim,  a  most  magnificent 
park,  indeed.  We  narrowly  inspected  the  house  and  chapel, 
which,  though  much  cried  down  by  the  Tory  wits  of  Queen 
Anne's  reign,  appeared  to  us  very  magnificent,  and  worthy  of 
the  donors  and  of  the  occasion  on  which  it  was  given.  Our 
companion,  James  Adam,  had  seen  all  the  splendid  palaces  of 


296  K AMBLE  IN  ENGLAND. 

Italy,  and  though  he  did  not  say  that  Sir  John  Vanburgh's 
design  was  faultless,  yet  he  said  it  ill  deserved  the  aspersions 
laid  upon  it,  for  he  had  seen  few  palaces  where  there  was  more 
movement,  as  he  called  it,  than  in  Blenheim.  The  extent  of 
the  park  and  the  beauty  of  the  water  (now  a  sea  almost,  as 
I  am  told)  struck  us  very  much. 

From  Blenheim  we  made  the  best  of  our  way  to  Warwick, 
where,  as  we  had  been  much  heated,  and  were  very  dusty,  we 
threw  off  our  boots,  and  washed  and  dressed  ourselves  before 
we  walked  out.  John  Home  would  not  put  on  his  boots 
again  ;  but  in  clean  stockings  and  shoes,  when  he  was  looking 
at  himself  in  the  glass,  and  prancing  about  the  room  in  a  truly 
poetical  style,  he  turned  short  upon  the  boot-catch  who  had 
brought  in  our  clean  boots,  and  finding  the  fellow  staring  at 
him  with  seeming  admiration,  "  And  am  not  I  a  pretty  fellow  ?  " 
said  John.  "  Ay,"  says  he,  "  sir,"  with  half  a  smile.  "  And 
who  do  you  take  me  for  ?  "  said  John.  "  If  you  binna  Jamy 
Dunlop  the  Scotch  pedler,  I  dinna  ken  wha  ye  are  ;  but  your 
ways  are  very  like  his."  This  reply  confounded  our  friend 
not  a  little,  and  he  looked  still  more  foolish  than  Robertson, 
when  Jackson  told  at  Staines  that  the  Dissenting  minister  took 
him  for  a  Methodist. 

Warwick  we  found  to  be  a  very  pleasant  old  town,  finely 
situated,  with  a  handsome  old  church.  The  Castle  of  War 
wick,  the  seat  of  the  earl  of  that  name,  with  the  park,  was 
truly  magnificent,  and  the  priory  on  the  way  to  it,  the  seat  of 
Mr.  Wise,  not  unworthy  of  being  viewed.  We  dined  here, 
and  were  rather  late  in  getting  to  Birmingham,  where  a  ser 
vant  of  Mr.  Garbett's  lay  in  wait  for  us  at  the  inn,  and  con 
ducted  us  to  his  house,  without  letting  us  enter  it.  This  man, 
of  singular  worth  and  very  uncommon  ability,  with  whom 
Robertson  and  I  were  intimately  acquainted  in  Scotland,  had 
anxiously  wished  us  to  come  his  way,  with  which  we  com- 


RAMBLE  IN  ENGLAND.  297 

plied,  not  merely  to  see  the  wonders  of  the  place,  but  to 
gratify  him.  Six  or  seven  years  before  this,  Dr.  Roebuck 
and  he  had  established  a  vitriol  work  at  Prestonpans,  which 
succeeded  well,  and  the  profits  of  which  encouraged  them  to 
undertake  the  grand  ironworks  at  Carron,  which  had  com 
menced  not  long  before.  Garbett,  who  was  a  man  of  sense 
and  judgment,  was  much  against  that  great  undertaking,  as, 
independent  of  the  profits  of  the  vitriol  works,  they  had  not 
£  3,000  of  stock  between  them.  But  the  ardent  mind  of 
Roebuck  carried  Garbett  away,  and  he  yielded,  —  giving  up 
to  his  superior  genius  for  great  undertakings  the  dictates  of 
prudence  and  his  own  sober  judgment.  Roebuck,  having 
been  bred  in  the  medical  school  of  Edinburgh,  had  science, 
and  particularly  the  skill  of  applying  chemistry  to  the  use 
ful  arts. 

Ironworks  were  but  recent  in  Scotland,  and  Roebuck  had 
visited  them  all,  and  every  station  where  they  could  be 
erected,  and"  had  found  that  Carron  was  by  far  the  best, 
which,  if  they  did  not  occupy  immediately,  some  other  com 
pany  would,  and  they  must  remain  in  the  background  for 
ever.  This  idea  dazzled  and  overpowered  the  judicious 
mind  of  Garbett,  which  had  been  contented  with  the  lim 
ited  project  of  availing  themselves  of  the  populations  of 
Musselburgh  and  Fisherrow,  and  with  the  aid  of  Lord  Mil 
ton,  to  whom  I  had  introduced  him,  to  begin  an  ironwork  on 
a  small  scale  on  the  Magdalene  Burn,  and  introducing  the 
manufactures  of  Birmingham  at  Fisherrow.  This  was  highly 
gratifying  to  Milton,  who  would  have  lent  his  credit,  and 
given  the  labors  of  his  then  active  mind,  to  bring  it  to  per 
fection. 

Samuel  Garbett  was  truly  a  very  extraordinary  man.     He 
had  been  an  ordinary  worker  in  brass  at  Birmingham,  and 
had   no   education  farther   than    writing   and   accounts ;   but 
13* 


298  RAMBLE  IN  ENGLAND. 

he  was  a  man  of  great  acuteness  of  genius  and  extent  of 
understanding.  He  had  been  at  first  distinguished  from  the 
common  workmen  by  inventing  some  stamp  for  shortening 
labor.  He  was  soon  taken  notice  of  by  a  Mr.  Hollis,  a  great 
merchant  in  London,  who  employed  him  as  his  agent  for  pur 
chasing  Birmingham  goods.  This  brought  him  into  notice 
and  rank  among  his  townsmen  ;  and  the  more  he  was  known, 
the  more  he  was  esteemed.  Let  me  observe  once  for  all,  that 
I  have  known  no  person  but  one  more  of  such  strong  and 
lively  feelings,  of  such  a  fair,  candid,  and  honorable  heart, 
and  of  such  quick  and  ardent  conceptions,  who  still  retained 
the  power  of  cool  and  deliberate  judgment  before  execution. 
I  had  been  much  in  his  way  when  he  came  first  to  Preston- 
pans  about  the  year  '51  or  '52,  and  had  distinguished  him  and 
attracted  his  notice.  He  knew  all  the  wise  methods  of  man 
aging  men,  and  was  sensible  that  he  could  not  expect  to  have 
the  most  faithful  workmen  unless  he  consulted  the  minister. 
To  obtain  this  aid  he  paid  all  due  respect  to  my  father,  and, 
though  of  the  Church  of  England,  regularly  attended  the 
church,  and  indeed  made  himself  agreeable  to  the  whole  par 
ish,  high  and  low.  Roebuck,  though  a  scholar  and  of  an 
inventive  genius,  was  vain  and  inconstant,  and  an  endless 
projector,  so  that  the  real  executive  and  managing  power 
lay  in  Garbett. 

He  received  us  with  open  hospitality,  and  we  were  soon 
convinced  we  were  welcome  by  the  cordiality  of  his  wife  and 
daughter  (afterwards  Mrs.  Gascoign),  who  lodged  the  whole 
company  but  me,  who,  being  their  oldest  acquaintance,  they 
took  the  liberty  to  send  to  a  friend's  house.  Hitherto  they 
had  lived  in  a  very  moderate  style,  but  for  his  Scotch  friends 
Garbett  had  provided  very  good  claret,  and  for  the  time  we 
stayed  his  table  was  excellent,  though  at  that  time  they  had 
only  one  maid  and  a  blind  lad  as  servants.  This  last  was  a 


BASKERVILLE   THE  PRINTER.  209 

wonder,  for  he  did  all  the  work  of  a  man,  and  even  brewed 
the  ale,  (but)  that  of  serving  at  table  ;  and  for  this,  Garbett 
[provided]  according  to  the  custom  of  the  place,  where  no 
man  was  then  ashamed  of  frugality.  He  made  Patrick 
Downy,  who  was  then  an  apprentice,  stand  at  our  backs. 
Patrick  afterwards  married  the  maid,  who  was  the  mistress's 
cousin  ;  was  sent  down  to  Prestonpans  as  an  overseer,  and 
was  at  last  taken  in  as  a  partner :  such  was  the  primitive 
state  of  Birmingham  and  other  manufacturing  towns,  and 
such  encouragement  did  they  then  give  to  industry.  Sed 
tandem  luxuria  incubiiit.  Few  men  have  I  ever  known 
who  united  together  more  of  the  prime  qualities  of  head 
and  heart. 

We  passed  the  next  day  after  our  arrival  in  visiting  the 
manufactures  at  Birmingham,  though  it  was  with  difficulty  I 
could  persuade  our  poet  to  stay,  by  suggesting  to  him  how 
uncivil  his  sudden  departure  would  appear  to  our  kind  land 
lord.  I  got  him,  however,  to  go  through  the  tedious  detail, 
till  at  last  he  said  "  that  it  seemed  there  as  if  God  had  created 
man  only  for  making  buttons."  Next  morning,  after  break 
fast,  Home  set  out  for  Admiral  Smith's,  his  old  friend,  who, 
being  a  natural  son  of  Sir  Thomas  Littleton,  had  built  him 
self  a  good  house  in  the  village  close  by  Hagley,  the  seat  of 
Lord  Littleton.  We  who  were  left,  passed  the  day  in  seeing 
what  remained  unseen  at  Birmingham,  particularly  the  Bas- 
kerville  press,  and  Baskerville  himself,  who  was  a  great  curi 
osity.  His  house  was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  town,  and, 
in  its  way,  handsome  and  elegant.  What  struck  us  most  was 
his  first  kitchen,  which  was  most  completely  furnished  with 
everything  that  could  be  wanted,  kept  as  clean  and  bright  as 
if  it  had  come  straight  from  the  shop,  for  it  was  used,  and  the 
fineness  of  the  kitchen  was  a  great  point  in  the  family ;  for 
they  received  their  company,  and  there  were  we  entertained 


300  LITTLETON  AND  SHENSTONE. 

with  coffee  and  chocolate.  Baskerville  was  on  hands  with  his 
folio  Bible  at  this  time,  and  Garbett  insisted  on  being  allowed 
to  subscribe  for  Home  and  Robertson.  Home's  absence 
afflicted  him,  for  he  had  seen  and  heard  of  the  tragedy  of 
Douglas.  Robertson  hitherto  had  no  name,  and  the  printer 
said  bluntly  that  he  would  rather  have  one  subscription  to  his 
work  of  a  man  like  Mr.  Home,  than  an  hundred  ordinary 
men.  He  dined  with  us  that  day,  and  acquitted  himself  so 
well  that  Robertson  pronounced  him  a  man  of  genius,  while 
James  Adam  and  I  thought  him  but  a  prating  pedant. 

On  agreement  with  John  Home,  we  set  out  for  Lord  Little 
ton's,  and  were  to  take  the  Leasowes,  Shenstone's  place,  in 
our  way.  Shenstone's  was  three  or  four  miles  short  of  Little 
ton's.  We  called  in  there  on  our  way,  and  walked  over  all 
the  grounds,  which  were  finely  laid  out,  and  which  it  is  need 
less  to  describe.  The  want  of  water  was  obvious,  but  the 
ornaments  and  mottoes,  and  names  of  the  groves,  were  appro 
priate.  Garbett  was  with  us,  and  we  had  [seen]  most  of  the 
place  before  Shenstone  was  dressed,  who  was  going  to  dine 
with  Admiral  Smith.  We  left  one  or  two  of  the  principal 
walks  for  him  to  show  us.  At  the  end  of  a  high  walk,  from 
whence  we  saw  far  into  Gloster  and  Shrop  shires,  I  met  with 
what  struck  me  most,  —  that  was  an  emaciated  pale  young 
woman,  evidently  in  the  last  stage  of  a  consumption.  She 
had  a  most  interesting  appearance,  with  a  little  girl  of  nine  or 
ten  years  old,  who  had  led  her  there.  Shenstone  went  up 
and  stood  for  some  time  conversing  with  her,  till  we  went  to 
the  end  of  the  walk  and  returned :  on  some  of  us  taking  an 
interest  in  her  appearance,  he  said  she  was  a  very  sickly 
neighbor,  to  whom  he  had  lent  a  key  to  his  walks,  as  she 
delighted  in  them,  though  now  not  able  to  use  it  much.  The 
most  beautiful  inscription  he  afterwards  wrote  to  the  memory 
of  Maria  Dolman  put  me  in  mind  of  this  young  woman ;  but, 


LITTLETON  AND   SHENSTONE.  301 

if  I  remember  right,  she  was  not  the  person.     It  is  to  me  the 
most  elegant  and  interesting  of  all  Shenstone's  works. 

We  set  all  out  for  Admiral  Smith's,  and  had  Mr.  Shenstone 
to  ride  with  us.  His  appearance  surprised  me,  for  he  was  a 
large,  heavy,  fat  man,  dressed  in  white  clothes  and  silver  lace, 
with  his  gray  hairs  tied  behind  and  much  powdered,  which, 
added  to  his  shyness  and  reserve,  was  not  at  first  prepos 
sessing.  His  reserve  and  melancholy  (for  I  could  not  call  it 
pride)  abated  as  we  rode  along,  and  by  the  time  we  left  him 
at  the  Admiral's,  he  became  good  company,  —  Garbett,  who 
knew  him  well,  having  whispered  him,  that  though  we  had  no 
great  name,  he  would  find  us  not  common  men. 

Lord  Littleton's  we  found  superior  to  the  description  we 
had  heard  of  it,  and  the  day  being  favorable,  the  prospect 
from  the  high  ground,  of  more  than  thirty  miles  of  culti 
vated  country,  ending  in  the  celebrated  hill,  the  Wrekin, 
delighted  us  much.  On  our  return  to  the  inn,  where  we 
expected  but  an  ordinary  repast,  we  found  a  pressing  invi 
tation  from  the  Admiral  to  dine  with  him,  which  we  could  not 
resist.  Though  a  good  deal  disabled  from  the  gout,  he  was 
kind  and  hospitable,  and  received  Garbett,  who  was  backward 
to  go,  very  civilly.  We  intended  to  have  rode  back  to  Bir 
mingham  in  the  evening,  but  in  the  afternoon  there  came  on 
such  a  dreadful  storrn  of  thunder,  accompanied  with  incessant 
rain,  as  made  the  Admiral  insist  on  our  lodging  all  night  with 
him.  With  this  we  complied  ;  but  as  he  had  no  more  than 
three  spare  beds,  James  Adam  and  Garbett  were  to  go  to  the 
inn.  Finding  an  interval  of  fair  weather  by  eight  o'clock, 
they  rode  to  Birmingham,  as  Garbett  was  obliged  to  be 
home. 

After  supper,  the  Admiral  made  us  a  spacious  bowl  of 
punch  with  his  own  hand,  a  composition  on  which  he  piqued 
himself  not  a  little,  and  for  which  John  Home  extolled  him  to 


302  A  RIDE  TO  SCOTLAND. 

the  skies.  This  nectar  circulated  fast,  and  with  the  usual 
effect  of  opening  the  hearts  of  the  company,  and  making  them 
speak  out.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Home  said  to  the 
Admiral,  that,  knowing  what  he  knew  by  conversing  with  him 
at  Leith,  he  was  very  much  surprised  when  he  recommended 
Byng  to  mercy.  "  You  should  have  known,  John,  that  I 
could  never  all  my  life  bear  the  idea  of  being  accessory  to 
blood,  and  therefore  I  joined  in  this  recommendation,  though 
I  knew  that  by  doing  so  I  should  run  the  risk  of  never  more 
being  employed."  This  was  a  full  confirmation  of  what  John 
Home  had  said  at  the  time  of  the  sea-fight  (p.  249).  This  fine 
punch  even  unlocked  Shenstone's  breast,  who  had  hitherto 
been  shy  and  reserved ;  for  besides  mixing  freely  in  the 
conversation,  he  told  Home  apart,  that  it  was  not  so  agreeable 
as  he  thought  to  live  in  the  neighborhood  and  intimacy  of 
Lord  Littleton,  for  he  had  defects  which  the  benevolence  of 
his  general  manners  concealed,  which  made  him  often  wish 
that  he  had  lived  at  an  hundred  miles'  distance.  When  Home 
told  me  this,  I  very  easily  conceived  that  the  pride  of  a  patron, 
joined  to  the  jealousy  of  a  rival  poet,  must  often  produce 
effects  that  might  prove  intolerable.  We  returned  to  Bir 
mingham  next  morning,  and,  with  the  most  affectionate  sense 
of  the  kindness  of  our  landlord  and  his  family,  we  set  out  on 
our  journey  north  next  morning.  I  have  forgot  to  mention 
that  we  supped  the  last  night  with  Dr.  Roebuck,  who,  though 
a  very  clever  and  ingenious  man,  was  far  behind  our  friend  in 
some  of  the  most  respectable  qualities. 

We  kept  on  through  a  middle  road  by  Lichfield  and  Burton- 
on-Trent,  where  we  could  get  no  drinkable  ale,  though  we 
threw  ourselves  there  on  purpose  ;  and  next  day,  dining  at 
Matlock,  we  were  delighted  with  the  fine  ride  we  had  through 
a  vale  similar  but  of  more  amenity  than  any  we  had  seen  in 
the  highlands.  We  took  the  bath,  too,  which  pleased  and 


A  RIDE  TO  SCOTLAND.  303 

refreshed  us  much,  for  the  day  was  sultry.  We  went  at 
night  to  Endsor  Inn,  opposite  Chatsworth,  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire's  fine  house,  which  we  visited  in  the  morning, 
with  much  admiration  both  of  the  structure,  ornaments,  and 
situation.  We  ascended  a  wild  moor,  and  got  to  Sheffield 
to  dinner,  where,  as  we  declined  visiting  a  brother  of  Dr. 
Roebuck's,  on  whom  Garbett  had  given  us  a  note  of  credit,  we 
sent  his  letter  to  him  and  went  on.  Next  day  we  saw  Rock- 
ingham  or  Wentworth  Castle  in  our  way,  and  became  satisfied 
with  sights,  so  that  we  turned  no  more  off  our  road  till  we 
came  to  Ripon,  where  we  could  not  resist  the  desire  of  visit 
ing  Studley  Park,  then  a  great  object  of  curiosity  to  all  peo 
ple  from  our  country,  as  it  was  then  the  nearest  fine  place. 
Alnwick  Castle  had  not  then  been  repaired  or  beautified. 
After  we  had  left  Sheffield,  where  we  might  have  got  money, 
we  discovered  that  we  were  like  to  run  short,  for  Dr.  Robert 
son,  unlike  his  usual  prudence,  had  only  put  two  guineas  in 
his  pocket,  trusting  to  the  full  purse  of  his  cousin,  James 
Adam,  who  had  taken  no  more  than  he  computed  would  pay 
the  fourth  part  of  our  expense.  Home  and  I  had  done  the 
same.  I  was  treasurer,  and  at  Leeds,  I  believe,  I  demanded 
a  contribution,  when  it  was  found  that,  by  Robertson's  defi 
ciency  and  our  purchasing  some  goods  at  Birmingham  with 
the  common  stock,  I  was  sensible  we  would  run  out  before  we 
came  to  Newcastle.  This  led  us  to  inferior  inns,  which  cost 
us  as  dear  for  much  inferior  entertainment.  We  held  out  till 
we  passed  Durham,  which  we  did  by  keeping  to  the  west  of 
that  city,  and  saving  two  miles,  having  made  our  meal  at  [  ], 
which  Home  knew  to  be  a  good  house.  From  thence  we 
might  have  got  early  into  Newcastle,  had  we  not  been  seduced 
by  a  horserace  we  met  with  near  Chester-le-Street.  This  we 
could  not  resist,  as  some  of  us  had  never  seen  John  Bull  at 
his  favorite  amusement.  There  was  a  great  crowd,  and  the 


304  A  RIDE  TO  SCOTLAND. 

Mrs.  and  Misses  Bull  made  a  favorite  part  of  the  scene,  their 
equipages  being  single  and  double  horses,  sometimes  triple,  and 
many  of  them  ill  mounted,  and  yet  all  of  them  with  a  keen 
ness,  eagerness,  violence  of  motion  and  loudness  of  vocif 
eration,  that  appeared  like  madness  to  us,  for  we  thought 
them  in  extreme  danger,  by  their  crossing  and  justling  in  all 
directions  at  the  full  gallop,  and  yet  none  of  them  fell.  Hav 
ing  tired  our  horses  with  this  diversion,  we  were  obliged  to 
halt  at  an  inn  to  give  them  a  little  corn,  for  we  had  been  four 
hours  on  horseback,  and  we  had  nine  miles  to  Newcastle. 
Besides  corn  to  five  horses,  and  a  bottle  of  porter  to  our  man 
Anthony,  I  had  just  two  shillings  remaining ;  but  I  could  only 
spare  one  of  them,  for  we  had  turnpikes  to  pay,  and  so  called 
for  a  pint  of  port,  which,  mixed  with  a  quart  of  water,  made 
a  good  drink  for  each  of  us.  Our  horses  and  their  riders 
being  both  jaded,  it  was  ten  o'clock  before  we  arrived  at  New 
castle  ;  there  we  got  an  excellent  supper,  &c.,  and  a  good 
night's  sleep.  I  sent  for  Jack  Widdrington  when  at  break 
fast,  who  immediately  gave  us  what  money  we  wanted ;  and 
we,  who  had  been  so  penurious  for  three  days,  became  sud 
denly  extravagant.  Adam  bought  a  £  20  horse,  and  the  rest 
of  us  what  trinkets  we  thought  we  wanted  —  Robertson  for 
his  wife  and  children  at  Gladsmuir,  and  Home  and  I  for  the 
children  at  Polwarth  manse.  As  we  drew  nearer  home,  our 
motion  became  accelerated  and  our  conversation  duller :  we 
had  been  in  two  parties,  which  were  formed  about  five  or  six 
miles  from  London  ;  for  having  met  with  a  cow,  with  a  piece 
of  old  flannel  tied  about  one  of  her  horns,  pasturing  on  a  very 
wide  lane  on  the  road,  Home  and  Robertson  made  a  sudden 
tack  to  the  left,  to  be  out  of  reach  of  this  furious  wild  beast : 
I  jeered  them,  and  asked  of  what  they  were  afraid.  They 
said  a  mad  cow  —  did  I  observe  the  warning  given  by  cloth 
upon  her  horn  ?  "  Yes,"  says  I,  "  but  that  is  only  because  her 


A  RIDE  TO  SCOTLAND.  305 

horn  was  hurt ;  did  you  not  see  how  quiet  she  was  when  I 
passed  her  ?  "  Adam  took  my  part,  and  the  controversy  lasted 
all  the  way  down,  when  we  had  nothing  else  to  talk  of. 
There  were  so  many  diverting  scenes  occurred  in  the  course 
of  our  journey,  that  we  often  regretted  since  that  we  had  not 
drawn  a  journal  of  it.  Our  debates  about  trifles  were  infi 
nitely  amusing.  Our  man  Anthony  was  at  once  a  source  of 
much  jangling  and  no  small  amusement.  He  was  never 
ready  when  we  mounted,  and  went  slowly  on,  but  he  was  gen 
erally  half  a  mile  behind  us,  and  we  had  to  halt  when  we 
wanted  anything.  I  had  got  a  hickory  stick  from  Jackson, 
not  worth  Is.  6<f.,  which  I  would  have  left  at  the  first  stage 
had  not  Home  and  Robertson  insisted  on  my  not  doing  it ;  but 
as  I  had  less  baggage,  and  an  equal  right  in  Anthony  and  his 
horse,  and  was  treasurer  withal,  which  they  were  afraid  I 
would  throw  up,  I  carried  my  point ;  and  this  stick  being 
five  feet  long,  and  sometimes,  by  lying  across  the  clothes- 
bag,  entangled  with  hedges,  furnished  him  with  a  ready 
excuse.  It  was  very  warm  weather  in  May,  and  we  rode 
in  the  hottest  of  the  day :  we  seldom  got  on  horseback  before 
ten  o'clock,  for  there  was  no  getting  Robertson  and  Home  to 
bed,  and  Jamie  Adam  could  not  get  up,  and  had,  besides,  a 
very  tedious  toilet.  Our  two  friends  wanted  sometimes  to  go 
before  us,  but  I  would  not  pay  the  bill  till  James  and  Anthony 
were  both  ready,  and  till  then  the  hostler  would  not  draw  or 
lead  out  the  horses  from  the  stable.  As  I  perceived  that 
Robertson  and  Home  were  commenting  on  all  my  actions,  I, 
with  the  privacy  of  James  Adam,  did  odd  things  on  purpose 
to  astonish  them :  as,  for  instance,  at  the  inn  near  Studley, 
where  we  breakfasted,  having  felt  my  long  hair  intolerably 
warm  about  my  neck,  I  cut  off  five  or  six  inches  of  a  bit  of 
ragged  green  galloon  that  was  hanging  down  from  a  chair 
back  in  the  room,  with  which  I  tied  my  hair  behind.  This 

T 


S06  A  RIDE  TO  SCOTLAND. 

made  a  very  motley  appearance.  But  when  we  came  to  take 
horse,  in  spite  of  the  heat  I  appeared  with  my  great-coat,  and 
had  fastened  the  cape  of  it  round  my  head ;  and  in  this  guise 
I  rode  through  the  town  of  Ripon,  at  the  end  of  which  I  disen 
gaged  myself  from  my  great-coat,  and  my  friends  saw  the 
reason  of  this  masquerade.  Another  day,  between  twelve 
and  one,  riding  through  very  close  hedges  near  Cornhill,  we 
were  all  like  to  die  of  heat,  and  were  able  only  to  walk  our 
horses.  I  fell  behind,  pulled  my  great-coat  from  Anthony, 
put  it  on,  and  came  up  with  my  friends  at  a  hard  trot.  They 
then  thought  that  I  had  certainly  gone  mad,  but  they  did  not 
advert  to  it,  that  the  chief  oppression  of  heat  is  before  the 
perspiration.  My  receipt  had  relieved  my  frenzy,  and  I 
reined  in  my  horse  till  they  came  up  to  me.  Soon  after  we 
left  Cornhill,  we  separated.  Home  and  I  stopped  at  Pohvarth 
manse  for  a  night,  and  Robertson  and  Adam  went  on  by  Long- 
formacus  to  Gladsmuir,  Robertson's  abode.  James  Adam, 
though  not  so  bold  and  superior  an  artist  as  his  brother  Rob 
ert,  was  a  well-informed  and  sensible  man,  and  furnished  me 
with  excellent  conversation,  as  we  generally  rode  together. 
Thus  ended  a  journey  of  eighteen  days,  which,  on  the  whole, 
had  proved  most  amusing  and  satisfactory. 

We  got  to  our  respective  abodes  by  the  22d  of  May,  and 
were  in  time  for  the  business  week  of  the  General  Assembly, 
of  which  Robertson  and  I  were  members,  and  where  we  came 
in  time  to  assist  in  sending  Dr.  Blair  to  the  New  Church,  to 
which  he  had  a  right,  and  of  which  a  sentence  of  the  Synod 
of  Lothian  and  Tweeddale  unjustly  deprived  him.  This  was 
the  only  occasion  on  which  he  ever  spoke  in  the  General 
Assembly,  which  he  did  remarkably  well. 


CHAPTER    X. 

1758-1759:   AGE,  36-37. 

VISIT  TO  INVEKARY.  —  PAMPHLET  IN  DEFENCE  OP  CHATHAM.  —  CHARLES 
TOWNSHEND  AND  THE  HOSPITALITIES  OF  DALKEITH.  —  A  STORY  OF 
A  HAUNCH  OF  VENISON.  —  WILKIE  OF  THE  "  EPIGONIAD."  —  A  COR 
PORATION  Row  IN  DUMFRIES. — ANDREW  CROSBIE.  —  OSSIAN  MAC- 
PHERSON.  —  THE  MILITIA  PAMPHLET. 

IT  was  in  the  month  of  August  this  summer  that  Robertson 
and  I  passed  two  days  at  Minto  with  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot,  who 
was  very  open  and  communicative.  About  the  middle  of 
October  I  rode  to  Inverary,  being  invited  by  the  Milton  fam 
ily,  who  always  were  with  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  and  who 
generally  remained  there  till  near  the  end  of  the  year.  I  got 
the  first  night  to  my  friend  Robin  Bogle's,  at  Shettleston,  near 
Glasgow,  where  I  found  him  very  happy  with  his  wife  and 
family.  He  was  an  honest,  gentlemanly  man,  but  had  been 
very  dissipated  before  his  marriage.  From  Glasgow  I  went 
all  night  to  Roseneath,  where,  in  a  small  house  near  the  castle, 
lived  my  friend,  Miss  Jean  Campbell  of  Carrick,  with  her 
mother,  who  was  a  sister  of  General  John  Campbell  of 
Mamore,  afterwards  Duke  of  Argyle,  and  father  of  the  pres 
ent  Duke.  Next  day,  after  passing  Loch  Long,  I  went  over 
Argyle's  Bowling-Greeri,  called  so  on  account  of  the  rough 
ness  of  the  road.  As  my  horses  were  not  frosted,  and  the  ice 
was  strong,  I  had  to  walk  about  six  miles.  This  made  me 
late  in  getting  to  St.  Catherine's,  directly  opposite  to  Inverary. 
I  wished  very  much  to  get  across  the  loch,  as  it  was  but  six  in 


308  VISIT  TO  INVERARY. 

the  evening  ;  but  the  mistress  of  the  house,  wishing  to  detain 
me  and  my  servant  and  horses  all  night,  pretended  that  the 
boatmen  were  out  of  the  way  and  the  oars  a-seeking,  and  that 
I  could  not  get  across  that  night.  This  vexed  me,  as  it  was  a 
miserable  house  to  sleep  in  ;  however,  I  called  for  a  rnutchkin 
of  whiskey,  and  prevailed  with  the  good  woman  to  taste  it 
without  water.  As  she  became  so  familiar  as  to  ask  where  I 
was  when  I  was  at  home,  I  told  her  I  was  a  schoolfellow  of 
M'Callum  More,  and  was  much  disappointed  at  not  crossing 
the  lake,  as  I  had  letters  of  importance  to  deliver  to  his 
Grace.  She  stared,  and  said  I  was  a  stalwart  carl  of  such 
an  age  :  my  grisly  undressed  hair  favored  this  deception.  I 
added  that,  if  I  could  cross  the  loch,  I  intended  to  leave  my 
servant  and  horses  all  night  to  her  care,  to  come  round  by  the 
head  of  the  loch  in  the  morning ;  but  if  I  could  not  cross,  I 
must  venture  to  ride  the  nine  miles  round,  dark  as  it  was. 
She  took  another  sip  of  the  whiskey,  and  then  left  the  room. 
In  five  minutes  she  returned  and  told  me  that  the  boatmen 
had  appeared  and  were  seeking  for  their  oars,  and  would  be 
ready  in  a  few  minutes.  This  was  good  news  to  me,  as  I 
knew  the  inn  at  Inverary  to  be  pretty  good,  as  I  had  been 
there  two  nights  when  I  went  to  their  country,  in  1754,  with 
Jamie  Cheap  of  Sauchie.  I  was  very  soon  summoned  to  the 
boat,  and  after  recommending  my  man,  John  M'Lachlan,  to 
the  care  of  the  landlady,  I  bid  her  farewell.  We  got  very 
soon  over,  the  night  being  calm,  and  the  distance  not  much 
more  than  two  miles. 

I  did  not  go  that  night  to  the  Duke's  house,  as  I  knew  I 
could  not  have  a  bed  there  (as  he  had  not  yet  got  into  the 
Castle),  but  I  went  in  the  morning,  and  was  very  politely 
received,  not  only  by  the  Milton  family,  but  by  the  Duke  and 
his  two  cousins,  the  present  Duke,  and  his  brother  Lord  Fred 
erick,  who  were  there.  His  Grace  told  me  immediately  that 


VISIT  TO  INVERARY.  309 

Miss  Fletcher  had  made  him  expect  my  visit,  and  that  he  was 
sorry  he  could  not  offer  me  lodging,  but  that  he  would  hope  to 
see  me  every  day  to  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper. 

It  would  be  quite  superfluous  to  say  anything  here  of  the 
character  of  Archibald,  Duke  of  Argyle,  as  the  character  of 
that  illustrious  person,  both  as  a  statesman  and  an  accom 
plished  gentleman  and  scholar,  is  perfectly  known.  "  I  was 
told  that  he  was  a  great  humorist  at  Inverary,  and  that  you 
could  neither  drink  his  health  nor  ask  him  how  he  did  with 
out  disobliging ;  but  this  was  exaggerated.  To  be  sure,  he 
waved  ceremony  very  much,  and  took  no  trouble  at  table, 
and  would  not  let  himself  be  waited  for,  and  came  in  when 
he  pleased,  and  sat  down  on  the  chair  that  was  left,  which  was 
neither  at  the  head  nor  foot  of  the  table.  But  he  cured  me 
of  all  constraint  the  first  day,  for  in  his  first  or  second  glass 
of  wine  he  drank  my  health  and  welcomed  me  to  Inverary, 
and  hoped  that  so  long  as  I  stayed,  which  he  wished  to  be  all 
the  week  at  least,  I  would  think  myself  at  home.  Though  he 
never  drank  to  me  again,  I  was  much  more  gratified  by  his 
directing  much  of  his  conversation  to  me.  His  colloquial 
talent  was  very  remarkable,  for  he  never  harangued  or  was 
tedious,  but  listened  to  you  in  your  turn.  We  sat  down  every 
day  fifteen  or  sixteen  to  dinner ;  for  besides  his  two  cousins 
and  the  Fletcher  family,  there  were  always  seven  or  eight 
Argyleshire  gentlemen,  or  factors  on  the  estate,  at  dinner. 
The  Duke  had  the  talent  of  conversing  with  his  guests  so  as 
to  distinguish  men  of  knowledge  and  talents  without  neglect 
ing  those  who  valued  themselves  more  on  their  birth  and  their 
rent-rolls  than  on  personal  merit.  After  the  ladies  were  with 
drawn  and  he  had  drank  his  bottle  of  claret,  he  retired  to  an 
easy-chair  set  hard  by  the  fireplace :  drawing  a  black  silk 
nightcap  over  his  eyes,  he  slept,  or  seemed  to  sleep,  for  an 
hour  and  a  half.  In  the  mean  time,  Sandie  M'Millan,  who 


310  VISIT   TO  INVERARY. 

was  toast-master,  pushed  about  the  bottle,  and  a  more  noisy 
or  regardless  company  could  hardly  be.  Milton  retired  soon 
after  the  ladies,  and  about  six  o'clock  M'Millan  and  the  gen 
tlemen  drew  off  (for  at  that  time  dinner  was  always  served  at 
two  o'clock),  when  the  ladies  returned,  and  his  Grace  awoke 
and  called  for  his  tea,  which  he  made  himself  at  a  little  table 
apart  from  that  of  the  company.  Tea  being  over,  he  played 
two  rubbers  at  sixpenny  whist,  as  he  did  in  London.  He  had 
always  some  of  the  ladies  of  his  party,  while  the  rest  amused 
themselves  at  another  table.  Supper  was  served  soon  after 
nine,  and  there  being  nobody  left  but  those  with  whom  he  was 
familiar,  he  drank  another  bottle  of  claret,  and  could  not  be  got 
to  go  to  bed  till  one  in  the  morning.  Jack  Campbell  of  Stone- 
field,  who  had  lately  married  his  niece,  Lady  Grace  Stuart, 
came  to  us  on  the  second  day.  I  may  add  that  the  provisions 
for  the  table  were  at  least  equal  to  the  conversation  ;  for  we 
had  sea  and  river  fish  in  perfection,  the  best  beef  and  mutton 
and  fowls  and  wild  game  and  venison  of  both  kinds  in  abun 
dance.  The  wines,  too,  were  excellent. 

I  stayed  over  Sunday  and  preached  to  his  Grace,  who 
always  attended  the  church  at  Inverary.  The  ladies  told 
me  that  I  had  pleased  his  Grace,  which  gratified  me  not  a 
little,  as  without  him  no  preferment  could  be  obtained  in 
Scotland. 

The  Duke  had  a  great  collection  of  fine  stories,  which  he 
told  so  neatly,  and  so  frequently  repeated  them  without  varia 
tion,  as  to  make  one  believe  that  he  had  wrote  them  down. 
He  had  been  in  the  battle  of  Sheriffmuir,  and  was  slightly 
wrounded  in  his  foot,  which  made  him  always  halt  a  little.  He 
wrould  have  been  an  admirable  soldier,  as  he  had  every  talent 
and  qualification  necessary  to  arrive  at  the  height  of  that  pro 
fession  ;  but  his  brother  John,  Duke  of  Argyle,  having  gone 
before  him  with  a  great  and  rising  reputation,  he  was  advised 


THE   PITT   PAMPHLET.  311 

to  take  the  line  of  a  statesman.  I  may  add  here,  that  when 
he  died  in  spring  1762,  it  was  found  that  he  had  marked 
my  name  down  in  his  private  note-book  for  Principal  of  the 
College  of  Glasgow,  a  body  in  whose  prosperity  he  was  much 
interested,  as  he  had  been  educated  there,  and  had  said  to 
Andrew  Fletcher,  junior,  to  whom  he  showed  the  note,  that  it 
would  be  very  hard  if  he  and  I  between  us  could  not  manage 
that  troublesome  society.  This  took  no  effect,  for  the  Duke 
died  a  year  or  two  before  Principal  Campbell,  when  Lord 
Bute  had  all  the  power ;  so  that  when  the  vacancy  happened 
in  the  end  of  1761,  or  beginning  of '62,  Professor  Leechman 
was  preferred  to  it,  who  was  the  friend,  and  had  been  the 
tutor,  of  Mr.  Baron  Mure. 

I  slept  all  night  at  Levenside,  as  I  had  promised  to  Stone- 
field,  and  got  home  the  second  day  after. 

In  the  end  of 'this  year,  1758, 1  was  tempted  by  the  illiberal 
outcry  that  was  raised  against  the  Minister,  William  Pitt,  on 
the  failure  of  General  Bligh,  on  the  affair  of  St.  Cas,  on  the 
French  coast,  to  write  the  pamphlet,  "  Plain  Reasons  for  Re 
moving  the  Right  Honorable  William  Pitt  from  his  Majesty's 
Councils  forever,  by  O.  M.  Haberdasher;"  which  was  pub 
lished  in  London  in  the  beginning  of  1759,  and  had  a  great 
run.  I  had  wrote  it  in  the  ironical  style  of  Dean  Swift,  like 
that  about  burning  the  tragedy  of  Douglas,  and  thought  I  had 
succeeded  pretty  well.  Besides  panegyric  on  that  great  man, 
who  had  raised  us  from  a  very  low  state  of  political  depres 
sion,  not  only  in  the  eyes  of  all  Europe,  but  in  our  own  opin 
ion,  to  make  rapid  progress  to  the  highest  state  of  national 
glory  in  which  ever  we  had  been,  —  it  contained  likewise 
much  satire  against  the  Minister  who  had  reduced  us  so 
low. 

After  I  returned  from  Inverary,  I  visited  my  friend  Mrs. 
Wedderburn,  whom,  to  my  great  grief,  I  found  low  and  de- 


312  A   VARIED   YEAR. 

jected.  The  Captain  had  been  obliged  to  join  his  regiment 
in  the  "West  Indies  in  the  spring,  where  there  was  much  fight 
ing,  and  she  had  not  heard  of  him  for  some  time.  She  was 
brought  to  bed  of  a  daughter  early  in  December,  and  died 
of  a  fever  at  that  time,  universally  regretted,  and  never  to 
be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  intimately  acquainted  with 
her. 

Thus  ended  a  year  of  greater  variety  than  any  in  my  life ; 
for  though  I  had  been  in  London  before,  and  had  rode  to 
Edinburgh  likewise  on  horseback,  yet  I  had  not  till  then 
seen  such  a  variety  of  characters,  nor  had  I  acquired  such 
a  talent  for  observation,  nor  possessed  a  line  for  sounding  the 
depths  of  the  human  character  commensurate  to  that  purpose 
as  I  now  had.  On  this  tour  I  had  seen  great  variety  of  char 
acters,  with  many  of  whom  having  been  very  intimate,  the 
defect  was  in  myself  if  I  had  not  been  able  to  sound  all  the 
depths  and  shallows  through  which  I  passed. 

In  this  year,  1759,  in  the  beginning  of  which  I  enjoyed  the 
success  of  my  ironical  pamphlet  in  defence  of  William  Pitt, 
afterwards  Lord  Chatham,  I  was  encouraged  to  take  my  pen 
again  occasionally,  when  anything  should  occur  that  suited  it. 
Two  or  three  years  after  this  period,  our  neighborhood  was 
enriched  by  the  residence  of  a  very  valuable  man,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Robert  Campbell  of  Finab,  a  man  of  the  first-rate 
understanding  and  ability.  He  had  been  in  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland's  war,  and  was  captain  of  grenadiers  in  the  42d 
regiment,  but  had  been  much  disgusted  with  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  and  not  having  good  health,  he  left  the  army, 
I  think,  with  major's  rank ;  and  some  time  thereafter  having 
bought  the  estate  of  Drumore,  he  came  to  live  there  with 
his  family.  As  he  had  been  at  college  with  me,  and  in  the 
same  class,  and  having  had  a  boyish  intimacy  together,  it  was 
not  difficult  to  renew  my  acquaintance,  and  to  make  it  more 


SKETCHES   OF   CHARACTER.  313 

intimate.  He  was  very  sociable,  and  liked  golf,  the  sport  in 
winch  I  excelled  and  took  much  pleasure.  The  Colonel  had 
read  very  little,  but  he  had  taken  a  more  comprehensive  view 
of  men  and  affairs  than  almost  any  person  I  ever  knew. 
Adam  Ferguson  and  he  had  been  very  intimate,  and  had  a 
mutual  regard  for  each  other.  This  gentleman  was  truly  a 
great  addition  to  our  society.  He  had  been  member  of  Par 
liament  for  Argyleshire,  and  was  Receiver-General  of  the 
Customs  for  many  years  before  his  death.  He  left  no  son 
but  Lieutenant- General  Alexander  Campbell  of  Monzie,  the 
heir  of  his  father's  sagacity  and  talents,  with  more  experience 
in  war. 

There  was  nothing  very  material  before  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  year,  unless  it  was  an  explanation  and 
extension  of  the  Act  against  simoniacal  practices,  which  had 
become  necessary  on  account  of  some  recent  transactions. 
Dr.  Robertson  had  been  translated  to  Edinburgh  this  year, 
but  did  not  yet  take  any  particular  charge  of  the  affairs  of 
the  Church,  because,  not  being  yet  Principal,  he  could  not  be 
a  member  of  Assembly  every  year,  as  he  afterwards  was. 

My  father  had  gone  to  London  in  the  month  of  March,  to 
visit  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Dickson,  and  I  had  rode  with  him  to 
Berwick.  He  was  very  much  pleased  and  amused  at  London, 
where,  besides  his  daughter  and  her  infant,  his  first  grand 
child,  he  had  his  sisters,  Paterson  and  Lyon,  still  alive,  which 
gave  him  great  satisfaction.  As  he  had  never  been  in  Lon 
don  before,  he  enjoyed  it  very  much,  though  now  in  his  sev 
entieth  year.  But  being  fresh  and  vigorous,  and  remarkably 
cheerful,  he  was  a  very  great  favorite  with  all  his  new  ac 
quaintances.  But  as  he  would  needs  /ide  down  in  midsummer, 
and  had  been  unlucky  in  the  purchase  of  a  horse,  which 
was  very  hard  set,  and  still  more  so  in  his  choice  of  a  com 
panion,  —  one  of  his  daughter's  disappointed  lovers,  who 
14 


314  CHARLES   TOWNSHEND. 

paid  no  regard  to  his  age  in  the  length  of  his  day's  journey, 
—  he  was  so  much  overheated,  that,  as  my  mother  alleged, 
the  fever  never  afterwards  left  him,  which  concluded  his  life 
in  the  year  1765,  on  the  8th  of  March.  A  more  kind  and 
affectionate  parent  and  relation,  or  more  benevolent  neighbor, 
or  more  faithful  pastor,  never  existed. 

It  was  near  the  end  of  summer  this  year  that  Charles 
Townshend  and  Lady  Dalkeith,  with  her  daughter,  Lady 
Frances  Scott,  then  above  eight  years  of  age  [came  to  Dal 
keith],  and  remained  there  for  two  months.  As  they  had 
two  public  days  in  the  week,  according  to  the  ancient  mode 
of  the  family,  they  drew  a  great  deal  of  company  to  the 
house ;  and  as  I  was  considered  as  chaplain  in  ordinary  to 
the  family,  the  minister  of  Dalkeith  for  the  time  not  being 
much  in  favor,  I  was  frequently  there.  Charles  Townshend 
was  a  rising  statesman,  who  aspired  at  the  highest  offices.  A 
project  he  conceived  after  he  came  here  much  increased  our 
intimacy :  this  was  to  offer  himself  a  candidate  for  the  seat  in 
Parliament  for  the  city  of  Edinburgh.  The  state  of  the  city 
at  that  time  made  it  not  improbable  that  he  might  succeed. 
A  Mr.  Forrester,  a  counsellor  at  law,  of  Irish  birth,  and  quite 
a  stranger  here,  had  been  recommended  by  Baron  Maule  to 
the  Duke  of  Argyle,  to  whom  he  was  known,  and  to  Lord 
Milton.  Forrester  was  by  no  means  popular  in  Edinburgh, 
and  Charles  Townshend  had  bewitched  Lord  Milton  with  his 
seducing  tongue,  which  made  him  more  sanguine  in  his  pro 
ject.  He  discovered  that  I  had  much  to  say  with  the  Baron 
and  his  lady,  whom  he  cajoled  and  flattered  excessively. 

He  took  me  for  his  confidant  and  adviser  in  this  business. 
I  had  many  conferences  with  him  on  the  subject,  and  endeav 
ored  to  convince  him  that  if  he  was  not  master  of  his  wife's 
uncle,  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  as  he  pretended  to  have  his  own 
uncle,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  he  would  never  succeed  ;  for 


CHARLES  TOWNSHEND.  315 

though  Milton  seemed  to  govern  Argyle  in  most  things,  which 
was  necessary  for  the  support  of  his  credit  as  well  as  for  the 
Duke's  ease,  yet  there  were  points  in  which  Milton  could  not 
stir  a  step  without  the  Duke,  and  in  my  opinion  this  was  one 
of  them.  On  this  he  fell  into  a  passion,  and  exclaimed  that 
I  was  so  crusty  as  never  to  be  of  his  opinion,  and  to  oppose 
him  in  everything?  On  this  I  laughed  full  in  his  face,  took  to 
my  hat,  and  said  that  if  this  was  the  way  in  which  he  chose 
to  treat  his  friend  and  adviser,  it  was  time  I  were  gone,  for  I 
could  be  of  no  use  to  him.  He  calmed  on  this,  and  asked  my 
reason  for  thinking  as  I  did.  I  answered  that  the  Member 
of  Parliament  for  the  city  of  Edinburgh  was  of  great  conse 
quence,  as  whoever  held  that  was  sure  of  the  political  govern 
ment  of  the  country,  and  without  it  no  man  would  be  of  any 
consequence ;  that  his  lady,  being  the  Duke's  niece,  was  against 
him ;  for  as  in  political  business  no  regard  was  paid  to  blood, 
that  very  circumstance  was  hostile  to  his  design ;  for  it  was 
not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Duke  of  Argyle  would  allow  a 
young  nobleman  from  the  south,  who  had  made  himself  a  man 
of  importance  in  the  north  by  having  obtained  the  guardian 
ship  of  the  heir  of  one  of  our  greatest  families  in  his  minority, 
to  take  the  capital  of  Scotland  by  a  coup-de-main,  and  there 
by  undermine  or  subvert  his  political  interest,  for  without  his 
viceroyalty  in  Scotland,  his  Grace  was  of  no  importance  in 
the  State.  I  added  that  it  was  impossible  to  conceive  that  the 
Duke  would  be  so  blind  as  not  to  see  that  a  young  man  of  his 
aspiring  temper  and  superior  talents  would  [not]  think  of 
making  himself  member  for  Edinburgh,  merely  to  show  his 
address  in  political  canvassing,  to  lay  himself  at  the  feet  of  his 
wife's  uncle.  This,  with  much  more  that  I  represented  to 
him,  seemed  to  open  his  eyes  ;  yet  he  still  went  on,  for  he 
could  not  desist  from  the  pleasure  of  the  courtship,  though  he 
had  little  prospect  of  success. 


316  CHARLES  TOWNSHEND. 

He  came  at  last  to  be  contented  with  the  glory  of  driving 
Forrester  off  the  field,  which  was  not  difficult  to  do ;  for  when 
Charles  had  the  freedom  of  the  city  presented  to  him,  and  a 
dinner  given  him  on  the  occasion,  he  lessened  the  candidate  so 
much  in  their  eyes  by  his  fine  vein  of  ridicule,  that  the  dislike 
of  the  Town  Council  was  increased  to  aversion.  •  But  Charles, 
while  he  effected  one  part  of  his  purpose,  failed  in  another ; 
for  though  he  drove  away  his  rival,  he  gained  no  ground  for 
himself.  He  was  imprudent  and  loose-tongued  enough  to 
ridicule  the  good  old  King  George  II.,  which,  though  it  was 
not  unusual  among  young  noblemen,  and  indeed  wits  of  all 
ranks,  yet  could  not  be  endured  by  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh, 
who,  seeing  their  King  far  off  and  darkly,  were  shocked  with 
the  freedoms  that  were  used  with  him.  Besides  this,  Milton, 
who  had  been  dazzled  at  first  by  Charles's  shining  talents  and 
elegant  flattery,  began  to  grow  cold,  and  drew  off.  He  had 
sounded  the  uncle,  and  found  in  him  a  strong  jealousy  of  the 
nephew,  mixed  with  some  contempt,  the  effect  of  which  dis 
covery  was  the  gradual  alienation  of  Milton,  who  had  really 
been  enamored  of  Charles,  and  perhaps  secretly  thought  he 
could  manage  him,  if  he  had  success,  with  more  absolute  sway 
than  he  did  the  Duke  of  Argyle. 

After  Charles  returned  to  England  he  did  not  for  some  time 
desist,  and  I  had  much  correspondence  with  him  on  the  sub 
ject  ;  some  of  his  letters  I  have  still,  but  I  kept  no  copies  of 
my  own,  which  I  have  since  regretted,  as  they  were  wrote 
with  anxiety  and  exertion.  When  I  was  in  London,  in  1770, 
there  was  a  gentleman  who  pressed  me  to  pay  a  visit  to  Lady 
Townshend,  his  mother,  who  having  many  letters  of  mine  to 
her  son,  was  desirous  to  see  me  ;  but  not  choosing  to  be  intro 
duced  anywhere  by  that  gentleman,  I  missed  the  opportunity 
of  recovering  my  letters,  which  I  have  since  understood  are 
burnt,  with  all  Charles's  correspondence.  The  end  of  all  was 


CHARLES   TOWNSHEND.  317 

that  Forrester  having  retreated  from  the  field,  having  no  friend 
but  Baron  Maule,  and  a  caveat  being  entered  against  Charles 
Townshend,  the  good  town  of  Edinburgh  were  glad  to  take  an 
insignificant  citizen  for  their  member. 

While  Mr.  Townshend  was  here,  we  had  him  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Select  Society  in  one  sitting  (against  the 
rules),  that  we  might  hear  him  speak,  which  he  accordingly 
did  at  the  next  meeting,  and  was  answered  by  Lord  Elibank 
and  Dr.  Dick,  who  were  superior  to  him  in  argument  and 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  Like  a  meteor,  Charles  dazzled 
for  a  moment,  but  the  brilliancy  soon  faded  away,  and  left  no 
very  strong  impression,  so  that  when  he  returned  to  England 
at  the  end  of  two  months,  he  had  stayed  long  enough  here. 

I  must  not  forget,  however,  to  mention  an  anecdote  or  two 
of  him,  which  will  explain  his  character  more.  Nothing 
could  excel  the  liveliness  of  his  parts,  nor  the  facility  with 
which  he  made  other  people's  thoughts  his  own  in  a  moment. 

I  called  on  him  one  morning  at  Dalkeith,  when  he  said  I 
had  come  most  apropos,  if  not  engaged,  for  that  he  was  going 
to  ride  to  Edinburgh  to  make  some  calls ;  and  his  wife  being 
engaged  to  dine  with  the  Duchess  of  Gordon,  he  would  be 
very  glad  of  a  small  party  in  a  tavern.  I  agreed,  and  we 
rode  to  Edinburgh  together.  When  we  drew  near  that  city 
he  begged  me  to  ride  on  and  bespeak  a  small  dinner  at  a 
tavern,  and  get  a  friend  or  two  if  I  could  to  join  us,  as  he 
must  turn  to  the  left  to  call  on  some  people  who  lived  in  that 
direction.  I  went  to  town  directly,  and  luckily  found  Home 
and  Ferguson  in  Kincaid's  shop,  and  secured  them,  and  sent  a 
cady  to  Robertson  to  ask  him  to  meet  us  at  the  Cross  Keys 
soon  after  two  o'clock,  who  likewise  came.  During  dinner, 
and  for  almost  an  hour  after,  Charles,  who  seemed  to  be 
fatigued  with  his  morning  visits,  spoke  not  a  single  word, 
and  we  four  went  on  with  our  kind  of  conversation,  without 


318  A  HAUNCH  OF   VENISON. 

adverting  to  Mr.  Townshend's  absence.  After  he  had  drunk 
a  pint  of  claret,  he  seemed  to  awaken  from  his  reverie,  and 
then  silenced  us  all  with  a  torrent  of  colloquial  eloquence, 
which  was  highly  entertaining,  for  he  gave  us  all  our  own 
ideas  over  again,  embodied  in  the  finest  language,  and  deliv 
ered  in  the  most  impressive  manner.  When  he  parted  from 
us,  my  friends  remarked  upon  his  excellence  in  this  talent,  in 
which  Robertson  agreed  with  them,  without,  perhaps,  being 
conscious  that  he  was  the  most  able  proficient  in  that  art. 

It  was  in  the  second  week  of  August  when  the  school  at 
Musselburgh  was  publicly  examined,  and  when  the  magis 
trates  gave  wrhat  was  called  the  Solan  Goose  Feast.  I  took 
this  opportunity  of  inviting  Mr.  Townshend  to  visit  the  school, 
and  to  dine  with  the  magistrates,  as  he  was  tutor  to  his  Grace 
the  Duke  of  Buccleuch,  the  lord  superior  of  the  town.  Mr. 
Townshend  sent  them  a  fine  haunch  of  venison,  and  Mr. 
Cardonnel,  who  was  magistrate  at  this  time,  took  care  to 
assemble  a  brilliant  company  of  men  of  letters  to  meet  Mr. 
Townshend,  among  whom  were  Home,  Robertson,  Ferguson, 
and  William  Wilkie.*  There  was  a  numerous  company,  and 
the  best  dinner  they  could  make.  Cardonnel,  in  his  anxiety 
to  have  the  venison  properly  roasted,  had  directed  the  cook  to 
put  a  paste  round  it ;  but  she  not  having  given  it  time  enough, 
it  came  up  to  the  table  half  raw,  to  the  great  disappointment 
of  the  company,  but  chiefly  of  a  Colonel  Parr,  whose  serious 
affliction  made  the  rest  of  the  company  quite  easy  on  the 
occasion,  for  he  literally  wept  and  shed  bitter  tears,  and 
whined  out  what  an  unfortunate  fellow  he  was,  that  the  only 
haunch  of  venison  he  had  met  with  in  Scotland,  and  the  only 
one  he  had  any  chance  of  seeing  while  here,  should  be  served 

*  As  to  Cardonnel,  see  above,  p.  179.  In  the  Wilkie  who  figures  in  the 
scene  the  reader  will  recognize  the  great  Greek  scholar,  and  author  of  the 
Epic/oniad,  —  ED. 


TOWNSHEKD  AND  WILKIE.  319 

up  raw  !  This  set  the  whole  table  in  a  roar  of  laughter, 
and  reconciled  them  to  their  fate.  After  a  little  time,  the 
Colonel  recovered  from  his  disaster  by  the  use  of  the  grid 
iron  to  the  venison,  and  having  got  up  his  spirits  with  half  a 
dozen  glasses  of  good  claret,  began  to  talk  away  with  some 
effect ;  for  excepting  his  effeminacy  about  venison,  he  was 
not  a  bad  fellow. 

He  was  unlucky,  however,  in  one  of  his  topics  ;  for,  Wilkie 
having  begun  to  open,  Parr,  addressing  himself  to  him,  said 
something  rude  about  the  professors  of  St.  Andrews  (of  which 
university  Wilkie  had  very  recently  been  chosen  a  member), 
and  wished  they  would  keep  their  students  and  professors 
within  their  walls,  for  that  his  corps  had  lately  enlisted  one  of 
them,  who  was  not  only  the  most  awkward  beast,  but  the  most 
unruly  and  debauched  rascal  that  ever  wore  a  red  coat. 
Wilkie,  who  was  indignant  on  this  attack,  and  a  very  great 
master  of  horse-play  raillery,  and  in  scolding  feared  neither 
man  nor  woman,  replied  with  witty  and  successful  tartness, 
which,  however,  did  not  silence  the  Colonel ;  when  the  com 
pany  took  sides,  and  there  ensued  a  brawling  conversation, 
which  lasted  too  long.  Mr.  Townshend  had  interposed,  with 
an  intention  to  support  Wilkie  against  his  countryman  ;  but 
Wilkie,  being  heated,  mistook  him,  and  after  two  or  three 
brushes  on  each  side,  silenced  him  as  he  had  done  the 
Colonel;  and  the  report  afterwards  went  that  Wilkie  had 
completely  foiled  the  English  champion  at  his  own  weapons, 
—  wit  and  raillery.  But  this  was  a  mistake,  for  Mr.  Towns 
hend  had  not  the  least  desire  to  enter  the  lists  with  Wilkie, 
but  whispered  to  me,  who  sat  next  to  him,  that  as  Wilkie 
grew  brutal,  he  would  put  an  end  to  the  contest  by  making  no 
answer.  A  silence  ensued,  which  Cardonnel,  one  of  the  best 
toast-masters,  took  advantage  of  by  giving  us  three  bumpers 
in  less  than  two  minutes  ;  all  contest  for  victory  was  at  an 


320  FEANKLIN. 

end,  and  the  company  united  again.  Townshend  said  to  me 
afterwards,  when  he  came  to  take  his  carriage  at  my  house, 
that  he  had  never  met  with  a  man  who  approached  so  near 
the  two  extremes  of  a  god  and  a  brute  as  "VVilkie  did. 

Soon  after  this,  Mr.  Townshend,  and  the  Countess  and  her 
daughter  Lady  Frances  Scott,  set  out  for  London.  This 
was  a  very  clever  child,  whose  humor  and  playfulness  Mr. 
Townshend's  good  nature  had  to  encourage  and  protect  against 
maternal  discipline  carried  too  far.  He  continued  to  protect 
and  instruct  her,  and  frequently  employed  her  as  his  aman 
uensis,  as  she  has  frequently  told  me  since  ;  and  added,  that 
if  he  had  not  died  when  she  was  only  sixteen,  he  would  have 
made  her  a  politician. 

In  the  middle  of  September  this  year  I  went  to  Dumfries 
to  meet  my  friends,  as  I  usually  did,  and  to  accompany  my 
friend  Dr.  Wight,  who  had  come  from  Dublin  to  Dumfries, 
and  forward  to  Musselburgh  to  visit  me.  While  Wight  was 
here,  we  supped  one  night  in  Edinburgh  with  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Franklin  at  Dr.  Robertson's  house,  then  at  the  head  of 
the  Cowgate,  where  he  had  come  at  Whitsunday,  after  his 
being  translated  to  Edinburgh.  Dr.  Franklin  had  his  son 
with  him ;  and  besides  Wight  and  me,  there  were  David 
Hume,  Dr.  Cullen,  Adam  Smith,  and  two  or  three  more. 
Wight  and  Franklin  had  met  and  breakfasted  together  in 
the  inn  at  [  ]  without  learning  one  another's  names, 

but  they  were  more  than  half  acquainted  when  they  met 
here.  Wight,  who  could  talk  at  random  on  all  sciences  with 
out  being  very  deeply  skilled  in  any,  took  it  into  his  head  to 
be  very  eloquent  on  chemistry,  a  course  of  which  he  had 
attended  in  Dublin  ;  and  perceiving  that  he  diverted  the 
company,  particularly  Franklin,  who  was  a  silent  man,  he 
kept  it  up  with  Cullen,  then  professor  of  that  science,  who 
had  imprudently  committed  himself  with  him,  for  the  greatest 


A  MUNICIPAL   OUTBEEAK.  321 

part  of  the  evening,  to  the  infinite  diversion  of  the  company, 
who  took  great  delight  in  seeing  the  great  Professor  foiled  in 
his  own  science  by  a  novice.  Franklin's  son  was  open  and 
communicative,  and  pleased  the  company  better  than  his 
father ;  and  some  of  us  observed  indications  of  that  decided 
difference  of  opinion  between  father  and  son  which,  in  the 
American  war,  alienated  them  altogether. 

On  our  journey  he  [Dr.  Wight]  told  me  that  he  was  heartily 
tired  of  his  situation  as  a  dissenting  clergyman,  and  of  the 
manner  of  life  in  Dublin,  which,  though  social  and  convivial 
to  the  last  degree,  yet  led  to  nothing,  and  gave  him  no  heart 
felt  satisfaction,  there  being  but  a  very  few  indeed  with  whom 
he  could  unite  in  truly  confidential  friendship.  As  I  knew 
that  the  University  of  Glasgow  were  resolved  to  vacate  Mr. 
Ruat's  professorship  if  he  remained  much  longer  abroad,  and 
as  I  happened  likewise  to  know  that  he  would  not  return  dur 
ing  the  life  of  Lord  Hope,  who  was  in  a  slow  decline,  I  formed 
the  plan  of  obtaining  his  professorship,  which  was  that  of 
History,  and  in  the  gift  of  the  Crown,  for  Dr.  Wight,  and  I 
set  about  to  secure  it  immediately.  This  was  easily  done,  for 
I  had  access  to  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  not  only 
by  writing  to  him  myself,  but  by  interesting  John  M'Kie  Ross 
in  the  business,  with  whom  both  Wight  and  I  were  related, 
and  also  by  means  of  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  we  could  secure  Lord 
Bute ;  while  I,  through  Lord  Milton,  could  gain  the  consent 
of  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  I  had  favorable  answers  from  every 
body,  and  had  no  doubt  of  getting  the  place  if  it  was  vacated. 

Before  I  left  Dumfries,  I  was  witness  to  an  extraordinary 
riot  which  took  place  there  on  Michaelmas,  the  day  of  the 
election  of  their  magistrates.  Provost  Bell  had  been  two 
years  dead,  and  the  party  which  he  had  established  in  power, 
when  he  brought  them  over  to  their  natural  protector,  the 
good  Duke  of  Queensberry,  being  desirous  to  preserve  their 
14*  u 


322  A  MUNICIPAL  OUTBREAK. 

influence,  did  not  think  they  could  do  better  than  to  raise  John 
Dickson,  that  Provost's  nephew,  to  be  their  chief  magistrate. 
As  this  man  was  at  present  Convener  of  the  Trades,  who 
are  powerful  in  Dumfries,  and  was  popular  among  them,  he 
thought  his  ambition  would  be  easily  gratified.  But  there 
were  sundry  objections  to  this  measure.  Andrew  Crosbie, 
advocate,  the  son  of  a  Provost  of  that  name  who  had  been 
a  private  supporter  of  Provost  Bell,  in  opposition  to  the  party 
of  the  Tories,  thought  this  a  proper  time  to  attempt  an  over 
turn  of  the  present  magistrates  and  managers,  and  put  his  own 
friends  in  their  room,  who  would  either  be  directed  by  Cros- 
bie's  maternal  uncle,  Lord  Tinwald,  then  Justice-Clerk,  and 
far  advanced  in  years,  or  gain  the  credit  and  advantage  of 
governing  the  town  under  the  Duke  of  Queensberry.  As 
Crosbie  was  a  clever  fellow,  and  young  and  adventurous,  and 
a  good  inflammatory  speaker,  he  soon  raised  the  commons  of 
the  town  almost  to  a  pitch  of  madness  against  Dickson.*  On 
the  day  of  election,  which  happened  to  be  on  Saturday,  they 
rose  in  a  tumultuous  manner,  and  took  possession  of  the  stair 
leading  up  to  the  Town  Hall,  and  would  not  allow  the  elec 
tion  to  proceed.  But,  supposing  no  election  could  take  place 
after  the  day  was  elapsed,  when  twelve  o'clock  struck  they 
allowed  the  magistrates  and  council  to  depart.  They  came 
down  separately  and  by  backways  to  the  George  Inn,  where 
Dr.  Wight  and  I  were  waiting  to  see  the  issue  of  this  day's 
riot.  Dickson  had  married  a  sister  of  Wight's  for  his  second 
wife.  We  waited  in  an  adjacent  room  till  the  election  was 
over,  and  then  joined  them  for  half  an  hour,  to  drink  the 
health  of  the  new  Provost. 

The  Deputy-Sheriff  Kirkpatrick  had  come  down  from  his 

*  Andrew  Crosbie  was  a  distinguished  advocate,  in  great  practice;  but 
little  is  now  known  of  him  except  a  few  convivial  anecdotes.  He  is  sup 
posed  to  be  the  prototype  of  Ploydel  in  Cwj  Mannering,  —  ED. 


MACPHERSON  AND  OSSIAN.  323 

house,  ten  or  twelve  miles  off,  with  several  country  gentlemen, 
but  there  being  no  soldiers  in  the  town,  had  not  attempted 
to  disperse  the  mob  by  any  other  method  than  remonstrance. 
This  affair  ended  in  a  very  expensive  lawsuit,  and  Dickson's 
right  to  be  provost  was  established.  Wight  was  on  his  return 
to  Dublin,  and  I  on  mine  home ;  so  I  took  leave  of  rny  friends 
on  Monday,  that  I  might  see  our  grandfather,  who  by  that 
time  had  an  assistant. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  October  2d,  on  my  return  from  this 
visit  to  Dumfries,  I  got  to  Moffat,  where  I  knew  John  Home 
was,  as  he  usually  passed  two  or  three  weeks  every  season 
there.  He  introduced  me  to  M'Pherson  in  the  bowling-green, 
as  I  have  narrated  in  a  letter  to  the  Highland  Society.  He 
was  good-looking,  of  a  large  size,  with  very  thick  legs,  to  hide 
which  he  generally  wore  boots,  though  not  then  the  fashion. 
He  appeared  to  me  proud  and  reserved,  and  shunned  dining 
with  us  on  some  pretence.  I  knew  him  intimately  after 
wards.* 

The  Duke  of  Argyle  made  his  usual  visit  to  Argyleshire  in 
October,  and  stopped  for  a  week  or  two  at  Brunstane,  Lord 
Milton's,  as  he  now  seldom  occupied  his  lodging  in  the  Abbey, 
not  caring  to  be  troubled  with  too  many  visitors  from  the  city 
of  Edinburgh.  I  was  sent  for  to  him,  and  passed  a  very 
agreeable  day.  He  rallied  me  on  my  friend  Charles  Towns- 
hend's  attempt  to  steal  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  and  said  he  was 
not  a  very  dutiful  nephew.  His  Grace  knew  perfectly  my  in 
timacy  with  him,  and  so  did  not  push  the  conversation. 

*  The  letter  referred  to  is  in  the  Report  of  the  Highland  Society  on  the 
authenticity  of  the  Poems  of  Ossian,  p.  66.  He  states  that  Macpherson 
showed  some  unfinished  fragments,  and  continues:  "  Mr.  Home  had  been 
highly  delighted  with  them;  and  when  he  showed  them  to  me,  I  was  per 
fectly  astonished  at  the  poetical  genius  displayed  in  them.  We  agreed  that 
it  was  a  precious  discovery,  and  that  as  soon  as  possible  it  should  be  pub 
lished  to  the  world."  —  ED. 


324  THE  MILITIA. 

It  was  after  this  that  I  was  persuaded  by  William  John- 
stone,  advocate,  now  Sir  William  Pulteney,  and  Adam  Fer 
guson,  to  write  what  was  called  the  Militia  Pamphlet,  under 
the  signature  of  "  A  Freeholder  of  Ayrshire,"  which  I  chose, 
because  that  was  said  to  be  the  only  shire  in  Scotland  out  of 
which  there  had  not  issued  a  single  rebel  in  1745.*  After  an 
hour's  conversation  with  the  two  gentlemen  I  have  mentioned, 
I  undertook  to  write  the  pamphlet,  and  finished  it  in  a  fort 
night,  and  carried  it  to  Johnstone,  who  was  highly  pleased 
with  it,  and,  after  showing  it  to  Ferguson,  had  it  transcribed 
by  his  own  clerk,  and  then  shown  to  Robertson,  who  believed 
it  to  be  of  Johnstone's  writing,  as  he  had  told  him  that  the  au 
thor's  name  was  to  be  concealed.  Robertson  was  well  pleased, 
though  he  took  no  great  concern  about  those  kind  of  writings, 
and  added  a  short  paragraph  in  page  [  ],  which  he  laugh 
ingly  alleged  was  the  cause  of  its  success,  for  great  and  un 
expected  success  it  certainly  had ;  for  it  hit  the  tone  of  the 
country  at  that  time,  which  being  irritated  at  the  line  which 
was  drawn  between  Scotland  and  England  with  respect  to 
militia,  was  very  desirous  to  have  application  made  for  it  in 
the  approaching  session  of  Parliament.  Much  honor  was 
done  to  this  pamphlet,  for  the  Honorable  George,  now  Mar 
quis  Townshend,  had  it  republished  at  London,  with  a  preface 
of  his  own  writing,  as  a  Provost  Ferguson  of  Ayr  had  done 

*  The  pamphlet  here  referred  to  is  called  "  The  Question  relating  to  a 
Scots  Militia  considered,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Lords  and  Gentlemen  who  have 
concerted  the  form  of  law  for  that  establishment.  By  a  Freeholder."  The 
Act  which  placed  the  militia  of  England  nearly  in  its  present  position,  had 
been  passed  by  the  exertions  of  the  author's  friend,  Charles  Townshend,  in 
1757.  When  a  proposal  for  extending  the  system  to  Scotland  was  sug 
gested,  ministers  were  afraid  to  arm  the  people  among  whom  the  insurrec 
tion  of  1745  had  occurred,  and  the  feud  between  Jacobite  and  Revolutionist 
was  still  fresh.  It  is  curious  that,  for  a  reason  almost  identical,  Ireland  has 
been  excepted  from  the  Volunteer  organization  of  a  century  later.  It  was 
not  until  1793  that  the  Militia  Acts  were  extended  to  Scotland.  —  ED. 


THE  MILITIA.  325 

here.  I  had  likewise  a  very  flattering  note  from  Sir  Gilbert 
Elliot,  who  moved  for  the  Scotch  militia  in  the  next  session 
of  Parliament,  for  he  wrote  me  that  he  had  only  spoken  the 
substance  of  my  pamphlet  in  the  House,  and  had  got  more 
praise  for  it  from  friends  than  for  any  speech  he  had  formerly 
made;  but  this  did  not  happen  till  spring  1760,  when  a  bill 
having  been  ordered  and  brought  in,  was  rejected.  Robert 
Dundas,  then  Lord  Advocate,  opposed  it  keenly,  and  it  was 
said  in  party  publications  that  this  speech  was  the  price  paid 
for  his  being  made  President  immediately  after.  But  my  be 
lief  is,  that  as  political  principles  were  formed  in  the  school 
of  the  disciples  and  followers  of  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  whose 
ostensible  motive,  if  not  his  governing  one,  was  a  fear  of  the 
family  of  Stuart,  Dundas  sincerely  thought  that  arming  Scot 
land  was  dangerous,  though  he  rested  his  argument  chiefly  on 
a  less  unpopular  topic  —  viz.  that  a  militia  would  ruin  our 
rising  manufactures.  Ferguson  had  published  a  very  superior 
militia  pamphlet  in  London  a  year  or  two  before,  in  which  all 
the  genuine  principles  of  that  kind  of  national  defence  were 
clearly  unfolded.  The  parties  here  were  so  warm  at  this  time 
that  it  was  necessary  to  conceal  the  names  of  authors,  to  which 
I  had  an  additional  motive,  from  a  hint  of  Dr.  Cullen's ;  for, 
supping  one  night  with  him,  Dr.  Wight  being  only  in  com 
pany,  after  praising  the  pamphlet,  he  added  that  he  did  not 
know  the  author,  and  was  glad  of  it,  for  he  who  occasionally 
saw  so  many  of  the  superior  orders,  could  assure  us  that  those 
pamphlets,  which  were  ascribed  to  clergymen,  had  raised  a 
spirit  of  envy  and  jealousy  of  the  clergy,  which  it  would  not 
be  easy  to  stand.  As,  since  the  days  of  the  faction  about  the 
tragedy  of  Douglas,  three  or  four  of  us  were  supposed  to  be 
the  authors  of  all  the  pamphlets  which  raised  public  attention, 
we  sheltered  ourselves  in  the  crowd  ;  and  it  was  a  good  while 
before  the  real  writers  were  found  out. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

1760-1763:    AGE,   38-41. 

His  MARRIAGE.  —  SENTIMENTAL,  RETROSPECTS.  —  PRESENT  HAPPINESS. 
—  ADAM  FERGUSON  AND  SISTER  PEG.  —  DEATH  OF  GEORGE  II.  AND 
THE  DUKE  OF  ARGYLE.  —  CHANGE  IN  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF 
SCOTCH  AFFAIRS.  —  NEWCASTLE  AND  ITS  SOCIETY  IN  1760.  —  THE 
EDINBURGH  POKER  CLUB.  —  LORD  ELIBANK'S  SENTIMENTAL  ADVEN 
TURES.  —  DR.  EOBERTSON  AND  THE  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF 

SCOTLAND.  —  HARROGATE    AND    THE    COMPANY    THEKE.  —  ANDREW 
MILLAR  THE  BOOKSELLER.  —  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  —  LORD  CLIVE. 

THIS  year  [1760]  was  the  most  important  of  my  life,  for 
before  the  end  of  it  I  was  united  with  the  most  valuable  friend 
and  companion  that  any  mortal  ever  possessed.  My  youth 
had  been  spent  in  a  vain  pursuit ;  for  my  first  love,  which  I 
have  mentioned  as  far  back  as  the  year  1735,  had  kept  entire 
possession  till  1753,  by  means  of  her  coquetry  and  my  irreso 
lution.  She  was  of  superior  understanding  as  well  as  beauty. 
In  this  last  she  would  have  excelled  most  women  of  her  time, 
had  she  not  been  the  worst  dancer  in  the  world,  which  she 
could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  leave  off,  though  her  envious 
rivals  laughed  and  rejoiced  at  her  persevering  folly.  Though 
she  had  a  bad  voice  and  a  bad  ear,  she  was  a  great  mistress 
of  conversation,  having  both  wit  and  humor,  and,  with  an  air 
of  haughty  prudery,  had  enough  of  coquetry  both  to  attract 
and  retain  her  lovers,  of  whom  she  had  many. 

An  early  inclination  she  had  to  a  young  gentleman  who 
was  prevented  from  marrying  her,  and  was  soon  after  killed 


RETROSPECTS.  327 

at  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  made  her  difficult  to  please.     I  had 
never  fairly  put  the  question  to  her  till  about  the  year  1752, 
when  she  expressly  refused  me.     This  made  me  lessen  the 
number  of  my  visits,   and  made  her  restrain  her  coquetry. 
Soon   after   another  came   in   my   way,   whose   beauty   and 
attractions  made  me  forget  the  former,  to  whom,  though  she 
was  inferior  in  sense  and  even  in  beauty,  yet  being  ten  years 
younger,  and  having  gayety  of  spirit,  I  became  deeply  enam 
ored,  and  was  in  full  belief  that  I  had  gained  her  affections, 
when  I  was  informed  that  she  had  suddenly  given  her  hand 
to  a  young  man   in  every  respect,  except  in  birth  perhaps, 
beneath  her  notice.      In  both  those  ladies   I   believe   their 
vanity  prevailed  against  affection.     They  could  not  think  of 
being  wife  of  a  minister.     The  first  attempted  after  this  to 
ensnare  me  again,  but  I  escaped.     To  have  done  with  her, 
and  to  justify  me  —  two  gentlemen  of  my  friends  addressed 
her  vehemently,  Adam  Ferguson,  and  Robert  Keith  the  am 
bassador.     The  first,  who  pleased  her  much,  was  rejected  for 
the  same  reason  I  was  :  he  had  been  a  clergyman,  and  though 
in  a  more  lucrative  profession  now,  it  was  not  higher.     Her 
rejection  of  the  second,  I  believe,  was  owing  chiefly  to  prin 
ciple.     Though  he  was  twenty-four  years  older  than  her,  his 
rank  was  an  attraction  which  balanced  that;   but  she  could 
not  bear  the  idea  of  quarrelling  with  his  daughters,  some  of 
whom  were  her  companions,  and  not  much  younger  than  her 
self.     At  last,  after  having  rejected  rich  and  poor,  young  and 
old,  to  the  number  of  half  a  score,  she  gave  her   hand,  at 
forty-five,  to  the  worse-tempered  and  most  foolish  of  all  her 
lovers,  who  had  a  bare  competency,  and  which,  added  to  her 
fortune,  hardly  made  them  independent.     They  led  a  miser 
able  life,  and  parted ;  soon  after  which  he  died,  and  she  then 
lived  respectably  to  an  advanced  age. 

I  owed  my  good  fortune  to  the  friendship  of  John  Home, 


328  MARRIAGE. 

who  pointed  out  the  young  lady  to  me  as  a  proper  object  of 
suit,  without  which  I  should  never  have  attempted  it,  on 
account  of  the  inequality  of  her  age  and  mine,  for  she  was 
then  just  past  seventeen  when  I  was  thirty-eight.  I  was  well 
acquainted  with  her  sister  and  her  as  children,  and  saw  that 
they  were  very  remarkable  ;  the  eldest,  Sarah,  for  beauty 
and  elegance,  accompanied  with  good  sense  and  a  grave  and 
reserved  demeanor ;  the  second  for  an  expressive  and  lively 
countenance,  with  a  fine  bloom,  and  hair  of  a  dark  flaxen 
color.  She  had  excellent  parts,  though  uncultivated  and 
uncommon,  and  a  striking  cheerfulness  and  vivacity  of  man 
ner.  After  nine  months'  courtship,  at  first  by  silent  and 
imperceptible  approaches,  and  for  three  months  by  a  close 
though  unwarlike  siege,  I  obtained  her  heart  and  hand,  and 
no  man  ever  made  a  happier  conquest ;  for,  with  a  superior 
understanding  and  great  discernment  for  her  age,  she  had  an 
ease  and  propriety  of  manners  which  made  her  to  be  well 
received,  and  indeed  much  distinguished,  in  every  company. 
Having  lost  her  father  and  mother  when  her  sister  was  five 
years  of  age  and  she  only  two  —  the  father,  on  Christmas- 
day,  1744,  and  the  mother  on  the  same  festival  in  1745,  of 
the  small-pox  —  each  of  their  trustees  (for  they  were  co-heir 
esses  of  Heathpool  in  Northumberland,  Kirknewton  parish, 
then  only  £  180  per  annum),  Mr.  Colling  wood  of  Unthank, 
cousin-german  of  their  mother,  took  the  eldest  under  his  care ; 
and  Mr.  William  Home,  minister  of  Polwarth,  who  had  mar 
ried  their  father's  sister,  Mary  Roddam,  had  the  charge  of 
the  youngest.  By  this  division,  Sarah,  the  eldest,  had  seem 
ingly  many  advantages  above  her  sister,  for  she  lived  with 
superior  people,  who  frequented,  and  were  indeed  allied  to, 
the  best  families  in  their  county,  attended  the  best  schools  in 
Newcastle,  and  was  one  year  in  the  first  boarding-school  in 
Edinburgh  ;  and  accordingly  turned  out  an  elegant  and  well- 


MARRIAGE.  329 

bred  woman,  speaking  perfectly  good  English,  without  the 
roughness  peculiar  to  the  local  dialect,  and  was  admired, 
courted,  and  respected  wherever  she  went.  Yet  Mary,  the 
younger,  with  no  advantage  but  that  of  living  with  an  aunt  of 
superior  understanding  and  great  worth,  though  much  unedu 
cated,  and  having  only  one  year  of  the  Edinburgh  boarding- 
school,  soon  had  her  mind  enlarged  and  her  talents  improved 
by  some  instruction,  and  the  conversation  of  those  who  fre 
quented  us,  insomuch  that  in  not  more  than  one  year  after  our 
marriage,  she  appeared  not  only  without  any  seeming  defect  in 
her  education,  but  like  a  person  of  high  endowments.  Indeed, 
the  quickness  of  her  parts  and  the  extent  of  her  understand 
ing  were  surprising,  and  her  talent  both  in  speaking  and 
writing,  and  in  delicacy  of  taste,  truly  as  admirable  as  any 
woman  I  ever  knew.  Add  to  this  that  she  was  noble  and 
generous  in  the  highest  degree,  compassionate  even  to  weak 
ness,  and,  if  her  friends  were  in  distress,  totally  forgetful  and 
negligent  of  herself.  I  do  not  'think  it  is  possible  I  could 
derive  greater  satisfaction  from  any  circumstance  in  human 
life  than  I  did  from  the  high  approbation  which  was  given  to 
my  choice  by  the  very  superior  men  who  were  my  closest  and 
most  discerning  friends,  such  as  Ferguson,  Robertson,  Blair, 
and  Bannatine,  not  merely  by  words,  but'by  the  open,  respect 
ful,  and  confidential  manner  in  which  they  conversed  with  her. 
On  the  14th  of  October  was  made  the  important  change  in 
my  situation,  in  John  Home's  house,  in  Alison's  Square, 
when  he  was  absent  at  Lord  Eglintoun's,  who  had  become  a 
favorite  of  the  Earl  of  Bute's,  very  much  by  John's  means. 
He  was,  indeed,  a  very  able  as  well  as  an  agreeable  man, 
though  his  education  had  been  sadly  neglected.  We  had  sun 
dry  visits  next  day,  and  among  the  foremost  came  Sir  Harry 
Erskine  and  Mr.  Alexander  Wedderburn.  I  was  not  then 
much  acquainted  with  the  first,  but  as  he  was  older  than  me 


330  FERGUSON  AND  "SISTER  PEG." 

by  several  years,  and  Fanny  Wedderburn,  of  whom  he  was 
then  in  full  pursuit,  was  as  much  older  than  my  young  wife,  I 
guessed  that  the  real  motive  of  this  visit,  as  my  friend  Wed 
derburn  seldom  did  anything  without  a  reason,  was  to  see 
how  such  an  unequal  couple  would  look  on  the  day  after 
their  marriage. 

We  remained  in  Edinburgh  till  Tuesday  the  21st  of  Octo 
ber,  when  Baron  Grant's  lady  came  in  her  coach  to  carry  us 
to  Castlesteads,  some  necessary  repairs  in  the  manse  not  being 
yet  finished.  There  I  had  the  pleasure  to  find  that  my  wife 
could  acquit  herself  equally  well  in  all  companies,  and  had 
nothing  to  wish  for  in  the  article  of  behavior.  We  went  home 
on  Saturday  morning,  and  the  Grants  followed  us  to  dinner, 
and  were  met  by  the  Cardonnels. 

While  I  was  busy  with  this  important  change  in  my  domes 
tic  state,  I  was  applied  to  by  a  friend  to  write  a  satirical  pam 
phlet  in  my  ironical  style  against  the  opposers  of  the  Scotch 
Militia  Bill,  which  had  been  rejected  in  the  preceding  session. 
Being  too  much  engaged  to  attempt  anything  of  that  kind  at 
the  time,  I  proposed  that  it  should  be  intrusted  to  Adam  Fer 
guson,  then  living  at  Inveresk,  preparing  his  academical  lec 
tures.  My  friend  answered  that  he  was  excellent  at  serious 
works,  but  could  turn  nothing  into  ridicule,  as  he  had  no 
humor :  I  answered,  that  he  did  not  know  him  sufficiently,  but 
advised  him  to  go  and  try  him,  as  he  would  undertake  noth 
ing  that  he  was  not  able  to  execute.  This  happened  about 
the  month  of  August,  and  Ferguson  having  undertaken  it, 
executed  that  little  work  called  "  Sister  Peg,"  in  the  style  of 
Dr.  Arbuthnot's  "John  Bull,"  which  excited  both  admiration 
and  animosity.  The  real  author  was  carefully  concealed, 
though  it  was  generally  ascribed  to  me,  as  I  had  written  two 
small  pieces  in  the  same  ironical  style.  The  public  had  no 
doubt  but  that  it  was  the  work  of  one  out  of  four  of  us,  if  not 


DEATH  OF  GEORGE  II.  331 

the  joint  work  of  us  all.  The  secret  was  well  kept  by  at  least 
ten  or  a  dozen  males  and  females.  This  pamphlet  occasioned 
a  very  ludicrous  scene  between  David  Hume  and  Dr.  Jardine, 
who  was  in  the  secret.  David  was  a  great  blab,  and  could 
conceal  nothing  that  he  thought  for  the  honor  of  his  friends, 
and  therefore  it  had  been  agreed  to  tell  him  of  none  of  our 
productions,  except  such  as  might  have  been  published  at  the 
Cross.  He  sent  for  Jardine,  whom  he  first  suspected  of  being 
the  author,  who  denying  his  capacity  for  such  a  work,  he  fixed 
on  me  (never  dreaming  of  Ferguson)  ;  and  when  Jardine  pre 
tended  ignorance,  or  refused  to  gratify  him,  he  told  him  he 
had  written  it  himself  in  an  idle  hour,  and  desired  Jardine 
to  mention  him  as  the  author  everywhere,  that  it  might  not 
fall  on  some  of  us,  who  were  not  so  able  to  bear  it.  This 
I  could  not  have  believed,  had  not  David  himself  written 
me  a  letter  to  that  purpose,  which  I  shall  transcribe  in  the 
margin.* 

His  Majesty  George  II.  died  on  the  25th  of  October,  which 
put  the  whole  nation  in  mourning.  John  Home  came  to  town 
for  a  night  or  two,  on  his  way  to  London,  with  Lord  Eglinton, 
when  began  his  greatness,  for  he  might  really  have  been  said 
to  have  been  the  second  man  in  the  kingdom  while  Bute  re 
mained  in  power,  which  influence  he  used  not  to  his  own  ad 
vancement  to  wealth  or  power  —  for  he  never  asked  anything 
for  himself,  and,  strange  to  tell,  never  was  offered  anything  by 
his  patron  —  but  for  the  service  of  his  friends,  or  of  those  who, 
by  flattery  and  application,  acquired  the  title  of  such,  for  he 
was  easily  deluded  by  pretences,  especially  to  those  of  roman 
tic  valor.  The  celebrated  Colonel  Johnston,  afterwards  Gov 
ernor  of  Minorca,  owed  to  him  his  being  restored  to  the  line 
of  •  preferment  of  which  the  late  King  had  deprived  him,  for 

*  The  letter  will  be  found  in  the  Life  and  Correspondence  of  David  Hume, 
ii.  88. —  ED. 


332  THE  WIFE'S  CONNECTIONS. 

his  insolent  behavior  to  a  country  gentleman  in  the  playhouse ; 
and  George  Johnstone  likewise.* 

Towards  the  end  of  December  I  went  to  Polwarth  with 
31r.  Home,  my  wife's  uncle,  and  one  of  her  guardians,  and 
went  to  Unthank  to  visit  Mr.  Collingwood  the  other,  with  For 
rester  the  attorney,  to  settle  our  affairs,  —  a  trusty  fellow,  who 
had  already  made  a  large  fortune,  and,  what  amused  me  much, 
taken  the  tone  of  a  discontented  patriot  so  strongly  against 
the  ministry  of  his  Grace,  that  they  were  obliged  in  a  year  or 
two  to  let  him  have  a  share  in  the  management.  Alexander 
Collingwood  of  Unthank,  Esq.,  the  cousin-german  of  my  wife's 
mother,  was  weak  and  vainglorious,  proud  of  his  family,  and 
in  all,  and  above  all,  of  his  wife,  whom  he  obliged  us  to  visit, 
and  whom  we  found  very  handsome  and  very  clever,  —  too 
much  so  for  the  squire. 

We  returned  by  Langton,  as  we  had  come,  where  lived 
Alexander  Davidson  and  his  wife,  —  two  worthy  people,  who 
had  acquired  an  independent  estate  by  farming,  which  had  not 
been  frequently  done  at  that  time.  [Heathpool],  our  estate, 
lies  three  miles  from  Langton,  southwest,  up  Beumont  Water, 
and  is  a  beautiful  highland  place.  I  had  not  been  absent 
above  five  or  six  days,  and  found  my  wife  at  my  father's, 
where  she  was  the  joy  and  delight  of  the  old  folks.  At  that 
time,  indeed,  she  was  irresistible  ;  for  to  youth  and  beauty 
she  added  a  cheerful  frankness  and  cordiality  in  her  manner, 
which,  joined  with  an  agreeable  elocution  and  lively  wit,  at 
tracted  all  who  saw  her,  which  was  not  relished  by  my  old 
flame,  who,  in  the  midst  of  forced  praise,  attempted  a  species  of 
detraction,  which  was  completely  foiled  by  the  good-humored 
indifference,  or  rather  contempt,  with  which  it  was  received. 

*  The  former,  James  Johnston,  became  subsequently  Governor  of  Quebec. 
George  Johnstone  was  Governor  of  West  Florida,  and  author  of  Thoughts  on 
our  Acquisitions  in  the  East  Indies.  —  ED. 


THE  WIFE'S  CONNECTIONS.  333 

This  young  lady,  of  uncommon  parts  and  understanding,  but 
a  degree  of  vanity  on  account  of  trifling  or  imaginary  quali 
ties,  ended  her  career  at  last  in  a  very  exemplary  manner,  as 
I  have  before  stated. 

Early  in  this  year  (1761)  my  wife's  elder  sister,  Miss  Rod- 
dam,  paid  us  a  visit,  and  remained  with  us  till  she  was  mar 
ried.  She  was  a  beautiful  and  elegant  young  woman,  some 
what  taller  than  her  sister,  and  was  a  finer  woman  ;  but  she 
was  grave  and  reserved  ;  and  though  she  had  good  sense,  and 
was  perfectly  hearty,  she  was  not  only  inferior  to  her  sister  in 
point  of  understanding,  but  in  that  lively  and  striking  expres 
sion  of  feeling  and  sentiment  which  never  failed  to  attract. 

They  were  knit  together  with  the  most  sisterly  love,  in 
which,  however,  the  younger  surpassed,  not  having  one  self 
ish  corner  in  her  whole  soul,  and  being  at  all  times  willing  to 
sacrifice  her  life  for  those  she  loved.  This  young  lady  soon 
attracted  our  friend  Dr.  Adam  Ferguson's  warmest  addresses, 
to  the  ardor  of  which  she  put  an  end  as  soon  as  he  explained 
himself,  for,  with  a  frankness  and  dignity  becoming  her  char 
acter,  she  assured  him  that,  had  she  not  been  inviolably 
engaged  to  another  gentleman,  she  would  not  have  hastily 
rejected  his  addresses,  as  his  character  and  manner  were  very 
agreeable  to  her,  and  therefore  prayed  him  to  discontinue  his 
suit  to  her,  as  she  could  not  listen  to  him  on  this  subject, 
but  would  be  happy  in  his  friendship,  and  the  continuance  of 
a  society  so  pleasing  to  her.  With  this  he  reluctantly  com 
plied,  but  frequented  our  house  as  much  as  ever  till  she  was 
married. 

The  gentleman  she  was  engaged  to  was  John  Erasmus 
Blackett,  Esq.,  the  youngest  brother  of  Sir  Edward  Blackett, 
Bart.,  of  Malfen,  in  Northumberland,  —  a  man  of  large  for 
tune,  who  represented  the  elder  branch  of  the  Blackett  family, 
then  in  Sir  Walter  Blackett  Coverley,  who  was  the  nephew 


334  THE   WIFE'S   CONNECTIONS. 

of  the  late  Sir  William  Blackett  of  Newcastle.  John  E. 
Blackett  was  a  very  handsome  young  man,  of  about  thirty, 
who  had  been  bred  at  Liverpool  with  Sir  [  ]  Cunliffe, 
and  was  now  settled  partner  with  Mr.  Alderman  Simson,  an 
eminent  coal-dealer  in  Newcastle.  John  Blackett  was  called 
Erasmus  after  Erasmus  Lewis,  who  was  secretary  to  Lord 
Oxford  in  Queen  Anne's  time,  and  an  intimate  friend  of  his 
father's,  John  Blackett,  Esq.,  of  [  ],  in  Yorkshire,  who 

never  was  baronet,  having  died  before  his  uncle,  Sir  Edward 
Blackett.  John  Erasmus  was  at  this  time  a  captain  and  pay 
master  in  his  brother's  regiment  of  Northumberland  Militia, 
lately  raised,  and  quartered  at  Berwick  since  March  or  April, 
1760.  As  Miss  Roddam  was  not  of  age  till  March,  the  mar 
riage  was  delayed  till  after  that  time,  when  she  could  dispose 
of  her  moiety  of  the  estate.  As  this  did  not  shake  Miss  Rod- 
dam,  that  quieted  a  suspicion  which  some  of  her  friends  enter 
tained  that  he  meant  to  draw  off.  But  he  came  and  visited  us 
in  the  end  of  January,  when  every  shadow  of  doubt  of  his 
fulfilling  his  engagement  was  dissipated. 

I  was  only  afraid  that  a  man  so  imperfectly  educated  as  he 
had  been,  and  of  ordinary  talents,  could  not  long  predomi 
nate  in  the  breast  of  a  young  lady  who  had  sense  and  sensi 
bility  enough  to  relish  the  conversation,  of  the  high-minded 
and  enlightened  philosopher,  who  had  enough  of  the  world, 
however,  to  be  entitled  to  the  name  of  the  Polite  Philosopher. 

I  returned  with  Mr.  Blackett  in  the  beginning  of  February 
to  Berwick  and  Wooler,  where  I  met  the  trustees,  where  the 
estate  was  let  to  Ralph  Compton,  the  second  son  of  our 
former  tenant,  for  the  usual  term,  and  rose  from  £  180  per 
annum  to  £283.  Before  we  parted,  Mr.  Blackett  settled 
with  me  that  he  would  come  to  us  in  April,  and  complete  his 
engagement.  He  went  on  from  Alnwick,  and  I  to  the  roup 
at  Wooler. 


THE  WIFE'S  CONNECTIONS.  335 

He  came,  accordingly,  at  the  time  appointed,  from  Berwick, 
attended  by  a  brother  captain,  Edward  Adams,  whose  mother 
was  a  Collingwood,  a  grandaunt  of  the  young  ladies.  They 
came  first  to  my  house  for  a  day,  and  went  to  Edinburgh, 
where  we  followed  them  two  days  after,  where  the  young 
couple  were  married  by  Mr.  Car,  of  the  English  chapel,  as 
they  were  both  Episcopalians. 

The  day  after  the  marriage  Blackett  gave  us  a  handsome 
dinner  at  Fortune's,  for  which  he  only  charged  half  a  crown 
a  head,  and  said  he  then  never  charged  more  for  the  best 
dinner  of  two  courses  and  a  dessert  which  he  could  set  down. 
Mr.  Ferguson  dined  with  us.  Next  day  they  came  to  Mussel- 
burgh  for  two  days,  and  then  departed  for  Newcastle  through 
Berwick,  where  the  regiment  still  was.  There  was  one 
thing  very  remarkable  of  that  regiment,  which,  though  six 
hundred  strong,  from  all  parts  of  the  county,  yet  lost  not  one 
man  for  one  year  and  four  months.  So  much  for  the  health 
iness  of  Berwick. 

My  youngest  sister,  Janet,  a  beautiful,  elegant,  and  pleasing 
young  woman,  was  married  at  London,  where  she  had  gone 
to  be  with  her  sister,  on  August  30th,  1760,  with  Captain 
Thomas  Bell,  a  nephew  of  Provost  Bell's,  who  had  been 
captain  of  a  trading  vessel  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  having 
been  attacked  by  a  Spanish  privateer,  took  her  after  a  short 
engagement,  and  got  £1,000  as  his  share  of  the  prize.  He 
was  a  very  sensible,  clever  man,  much  esteemed  by  his  com 
panions,  and  had  become  an  insurance  broker. 

On  the  first  of  July  this  year  my  wife  brought  me  a  daugh 
ter,  and  my  sister  gave  a  son  to  Thomas  Bell  on  the  Gth  of 
the  same  month.  He  was  the  first  of  eight  sons  she  had, 
seven  of  whom  were  running,  of  whom  Carlyle,  whom  we 
took  in  1782  at  t\vo  years  old,  is  the  youngest,  who  are  all 
alire  in  1804,  and  eight  daughters  all  well  married,  and  have 
many  children. 


336  THE  WIFE'S  CONNECTIONS. 

His  Grace  Archibald  Duke  of  Argyle  died  early  in  spring, 
as  suddenly  almost,  and  at  the  same  age  of  seventy-seven,  as 
his  Majesty,  George  II.,  had  done  in  October  preceding.  On 
this  occasion  Lord  Bute  wrote  a  very  kind  letter  to  Lord 
Milton,  the  friend  and  sub-minister  of  Argyle,  lamenting  his 
loss,  and  assuring  him  that  there  should  be  no  change  in 
respect  to  him.  Adam  Ferguson  was  with  Milton  when  he 
received  this  letter,  to  whom  he  gave  it  after  reading  it,  say 
ing,  "  Is  this  man  sincere  ? "  to  which  Ferguson,  on  perusal, 
"  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  was  so  when  he  wrote  it."  Milton 
declined  being  longer  employed  ;  and  it  was  well,  for  he  soon 
fell  into  that  decline  of  mental  powers  which  lasted  till  his 
death,  in  1766.  Lord  Bute  tried  to  make  his  brother,  Stuart 
M'Kenzie,  succeed  Milton,  but  he  neither  had  talents  nor 
inclination.  Baron  Mure,  who  was  a  man  of  business  and 
of  sound  sense,  was  employed  while  Lord  Bute  was  in 
power. 

In  this  year  I  lost  my  grandfather  and  grandmother  Robin 
son,  truly  respectable  people  in  their  day.  He  died  first,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-six,  and  she,  who  was  half  a  year  younger 
than  him,  gave  way  to  fete  just  six  months  after  him. 

When  my  wife  was  perfectly  recovered,  I  found  myself  un 
der  the  necessity  of  carrying  her  to  Newcastle  to  visit  her 
sister,  to  whom  she  was  most  tenderly  attached.  Mr.  Blackett 
was  then  living  in  Pilgrim  Street,  a  small  but  very  pleasant 
house  near  the  gate.  This  was  in  the  beginning  of  October, 
when  the  judges  were  in  town,  and  a  great  crowd  of  company. 
Mr.  Blackett's  brother  Henry,  the  clergyman,  was  then  with 
him,  who  was  an  Oxonian,  a  good  scholar,  and  a  very  agree 
able  man  of  the  world.  "We  were  visited  by  all  their  friends 
in  Newcastle  and  in  the  neighborhood,  and  made  many  agree 
able  acquaintance.  Sir  Walter  Blackett  was  one  who  lived 
in  a  fine  old  house,  directly  opposite  to  Mr.  Blackett.  He 


THE  WIFE'S  CONNECTIONS.  337 

was  a  very  genteel,  fine-looking  man,  turned  of  forty,  who  had 
not  been  happy  with  his  lady,  the  daughter  (natural)  of  his 
uncle,  Sir  William  Blackett,  who  had  left  him  and  her  heirs 
of  his  estate,  provided  they  intermarried.  He  fulfilled  the  will 
most  cordially,  for  he  was  in  love  with  his  cousin ;  but  she  re 
luctantly,  because  she  did  not  care  for  him.  By  report  she 
was  of  superior  understanding  to  him  ;  for  he  was  not  a  man 
of  remarkable  parts,  but  strong  in  friendship,  liberality,  and 
public  spirit ;  and  he  had  a  great  fortune,  not  less  than 
£  20,000,  with  which  he  amply  gratified  his  own  disposition. 
He  was  ostentatious,  and  fond  of  popularity,  which  he  gained 
by  his  public  charities  ;  but  lived  to  lose  it  entirely.  He  was 
long  member  from  the  town  of  Newcastle,  but  never  would 
ask  any  favors  of  Ministers,  while  in  the  mean  time  he  brought 
in  a  clever  colleague,  a  Mr.  Ridley,  who  got  all  the  favors 
from  Ministers,  having  both  Sir  Walter's  interest  and  his  own, 
by  which  the  credit  of  the  former  with  his  townsmen  was 
much  shaken. 

Our  sister,  Mrs.  Blackett,  luckily  proved  a  great  favorite  of 
Sir  Walter's,  as  his  cousin,  John  Erasmus,  had  been  before, 
to  whom  he  gave  the  payment  of  his  lead  mines,  which  being 
very  productive,  was  a  place  of  profit. 

Mr.  Collingwood  of  Chirton  was  another  valuable  acquaint 
ance  :  he  was  Recorder  of  the  town,  and  a  lawyer  of  great 
ability.  Though  but  the  second  brother,  he  had  acquired  the 
family  estate  in  consequence  of  the  dissipation  of  the  elder, 
who  was  representative  of  an  ancient  family,  and  whose  son 
is  Vice-Admiral  Collingwood,  the  husband  of  Mrs.  Blackett's 
eldest  daughter.  The  Recorder  had  acquired  Chirton  by  mar 
riage  ;  for  a  laird  of  Roddam,  one  of  the  five  families  in  the 
county  who  were  proprietors  before  the  Conquest,  having  been 
an  attorney  at  Newcastle,  had  purchased  the  estate  of  Chirton, 
which  he  left  to  his  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  one 
15  v 


338  THE  WIFE'S  CONNECTIONS 

of  whom  married  a  Mr.  Hilton  Lawson  and  the  other  Mr. 
Collingwood,  while  the  ancient  manor  of  Roddam  went  by 
entail  to  his  nephew,  Admiral  Roddam.  There  were  two 
houses  at  Chirton,  only  divided  from  each  other  by  a  road ; 
and  by  far  the  best  was  the  possession  of  Mary,  the  eldest 
sister,  and  her  husband  Lawson,  which  had,  in  the  end  of  the 
17th  century,  belonged  to  Archibald,  the  first  Duke  of  Argyle, 
who  had  built  or  repaired  it  as  a  convenient  place  between 
London  and  Inverary  on  his  journey  to  and  from  the  capital. 
It  was  at  this  house  that  he  died,  on  one  of  those  journeys. 
This  house  is  now  the  possession  of  Adam  de  Cardonnel 
Lawson,  Esq.,  which  was  left  to  his  mother,  Ann  Hilton,  by 
her  cousin  Hilton  Lawson ;  because  if  her  brother,  a  Rev. 
Mr.  Hilton,  had  not  died,  he  would  have  fallen  heir  to  that 
and  several  other  estates  of  Mr.  Lawson's.  This  gentleman 
is  the  son  and  heir  of  my  old  friend  Mansfield  de  Cardonnel, 
formerly  mentioned.* 

Those  families  adopted  our  two  wives  as  their  relations,  as 
their  father  was  a  descendant  of  the  family  of  Roddam,  and 
their  mother  of  that  of  Collingwood  of  Unthank,  who  was 
related  to  both. 

At  this  period  there  were  not  many  conversible  gentlemen 
in  Newcastle,  which  made  one  value  Mr.  Collingwood  the 
more  ;  for  the  men  were  in  general  very  ill  educated,  while 
the  ladies,  who  were  bred  in  the  south,  by  their  appearance 
and  manners,  seemed  to  be  very  unequally  yoked.  The 
clergy  at  the  time  were  almost  all  underbred,  there  being 
only  one  vicar  in  the  town,  and  the  rest  only  curates  or  lectur 
ers.  Sometimes  a  neighboring  clergyman  of  university  educa 
tion  accepted  of  a  lectureship  for  the  sake  of  living  in  town 
in  the  winter,  though  the  salaries  were  no  more  than  £  100 ; 
yet,  had  it  not  been  for  the  ladies,  the  state  of  society  would 

*  See  above,  p.  179. 


THE  DESPOT  OF  THE  NORTH.  339 

have  then  been  disagreeable.     For  many  years  past  it  has 
been  totally  different. 

At  a  grand  dancing  assembly  our  ladies  were  gratified  as 
much  as  they  could  be,  for  Mrs.  Blackett  had  the  honor  of 
dancing  with  the  Duke  of  Portland,  and  her  sister  with  Vis 
count  Torrington,  and  had  the  approbation  of  a  very  numerous 
company  for  their  genteel  appearance  and  good  looks. 

His  Grace  had  come  down  to  take  care  of  his  parliamentary 
interest,  having  great  estates  in  the  northern  counties.  He 
was  opposed  in  Cumberland  by  Sir  James  Lowther,  who, 
after  a  ten  years'  war,  drove  the  beaten  Duke,  with  infinite 
loss  of  money,  out  of  the  north.  Lowther  went  off  conqueror, 
but  more  detested  than  any  man  alive,  as  a  shameless  political 
sharper,  a  domestic  bashaw,  and  an  intolerable  tyrant  over  his 
tenants  and  dependents.  John  Home  cried  him  up  as  the 
bravest  and  most  generous  of  men  ;  and  he  flattered  and  obliged 
John  because  he  had  the  ear  of  Lord  Bute,  whose  eldest 
daughter,  an  amiable  and  patient  woman,  he  had  married  and 
abused.  Home  prevailed  with  him  to  prefer  George  John- 
stone,  the  Governor  of  Florida,  to  Admiral  Elliot,  for  one  of 
his  seats  in  Parliament,  though  he  was  by  no  means  the  best 
man  of  the  two ;  but  what  was  still  more  flattering  to  John,  in 
two  duels  he  was  involved  in  (neither  of  which,  however,  took 
piace),  he  took  him  for  his  second.  John  cried  him  up  for 
every  good  quality,  while  Ferguson,  who  had  seen  him  often, 
said  he  thought  him  a  very  stupid  man.  Bob  Hume,  who 
lived  nine  months  in  his  house  in  London,  attending  his  cousin, 
Sir  Michael  Fleming,  with  whom  he  went  to  Groningen, 
thought  him  a  capricious,  and  sometimes  a  brutal,  head  of  a 
family.  Robert  A.dam  told  me  many  stories  of  him,  which 
made  me  conclude  that  he  was  truly  a  madman,  though  too 
rich  to  be  confined. 

As  Mrs.  C.  had  never  been  in  that  country  before,  we  made 


340  THE  POKER  CLUB. 

several  excursions  in  the  neighborhood,  such  as  to  Tynemouth 
and  Durham ;  and  on  our  return  home  visited  the  Roddams, 
though  there  were  only  there  the  old  lady  and  her  two  daugh 
ters.  The  Admiral,  who  succeeded  his  elder  brother  in  a  few 
years,  built  himself  a  handsome  house,  and  improved  the 
place.  He  had  three  wives,  but  no  children. 

In  the  beginning  of  1762  was  instituted  the  famous  club 
called  "  The  Poker,"  which  lasted  in  great  vigor  down  to  the 
year  1784.  About  the  third  or  fourth  meeting,  we  thought  of 
giving  it  a  name  that  would  be  of  uncertain  meaning,  and  not 
be  so  directly  offensive  as  that  of  Militia  Club  to  the  enemies 
of  that  institution.  Adam  Ferguson  fell  luckily  on  the  name 
of  "  Poker,"  which  we  perfectly  understood,  and  was  at  the 
same  time  an.  enigma  to  the  public.*  This  club  consisted  of 
all  the  literati  of  Edinburgh  and  its  neighborhood,  most  of 
whom  had  been  members  of  the  Select  Society,  except  very 
few  indeed  who  adhered  to  the  enemies  of  militia,  together 
with  a  great  many  country  gentlemen,  who,  though  not  always 
resident  in  town,  yet  were  zealous  friends  to  a  Scotch  militia, 
and  warm  in  their  resentment  on  its  being  refused  to  us,  and 
an  invidious  line  drawn  between  Scotland  and  England.  The 
establishment  was  frugal  and  moderate,  as  that  of  all  clubs 
for  a  public  purpose  ought  to  be.  We  met  at  our  old  land 
lord's  of  the  Diversorium,  now  near  the  Cross,  the  dinner  on 
the  table  soon  after  two  o'clock,  at  one  shilling  a  head,  the 
wine  to  be  confined  to  sherry  and  claret,  and  the  reckoning  to 
be  called  at  six  o'clock.  After  the  first  fifteen,  who  were 
chosen  by  nomination,  the  members  were  to  be  chosen  by 
ballot,  two  black  balls  to  exclude  the  candidate.  There  was 
to  be  a  new  preses  chosen  at  every  meeting.  William  John- 
stone,  Esq.,  now  Sir  William  Pulteney,  was  chosen  secretary 
of  the  club,  with  a  charge  of  all  publications  that  might  be 

*  An  instrument  for  stirring  up  the- militia  question.  —  ED. 


THE  POKER  CLUB.  341 

thought  necessary  by  him,  and  two  other  members  with  whom 
he  was  to  consult.  In  a  laughing  humor,  Andrew  Crosbie 
was  chosen  Assassin,  in  case  any  officer  of  that  sort  should 
be  needed ;  but  David  Hume  was  added  as  his  Assessor,  with 
out  whose  assent  nothing  should  be  done,  so  that  between  plus 
and  minus  there  was  likely  to  be  no  bloodshed. 

This  club  continued  to  be  in  great  perfection  for  six  or 
seven  years,  because  the  expense  was  moderate,  while  every 
member  was  pleased  with  the  entertainment  as  well  as  the 
company.  During  these  seven  years  a  very  constant  attend 
ant  told  me  that  he  never  observed  even  an  approach  to  in 
ebriety  in  any  of  the  members.  At  the  end  of  that  period, 
by  means  of  an  unlucky  quarrel  between  one  or  two  of  the 
members  and  our  landlord,  who  was  an  absurd  fool,  the  club 
left  his  house  and  went  to  Fortune's,  the  most  fashionable 
tavern  in  town,  where  the  dinners  were  more  showy,  but  not 
better,  and  the  wines  only  dearer ;  but  the  day's  expense  soon 
came  to  three  times  as  much  as  the  ordinary  bill  at  Thomas 
Nicholson's,  which  made  many  of  the  members,  not  the  least 
conversible,  lessen  the  number  of  days  of  attendance ;  and, 
what  was  worse,  as  the  club  had  long  drawn  the  attention  of 
the  public,  many  members  were  admitted  whose  minds  were 
not  congenial  with  the  old  members.  When  this  change 
seemed  to  be  in  danger  of  essentially  hurting  the  club,  a  few 
of  us  had  recourse  to  a  plan  for  keeping  the  old  members  to 
gether,  which  was  that  of  establishing  a  new  club,  to  be  called 
the  "  Tuesday,"  to  meet  on  that  day,  and  dine  together,  with 
out  deserting  the  Poker.  This  lasted  for  two  years  at  Som- 
mer's  tavern ;  for  we  did  not  go  to  Nicholson's  for  fear  of 
giving  offence.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Poker  dwindled  away 
by  the  death  or  desertion  of  many  of  the  members  who  had 
lately  been  brought  in,  and  then  we  broke  up  the  Tuesday, 
and  frequented  the  Poker.  I  found  in  the  hands  of  Ferguson 


342  THE  POKER  CLUB. 

a  list  of  this  club,  taken  in  1774,  and  wrote  by  Commissioner 
James  Edgar,  to  which,  in  other  hands,  were  added  the  new 
members  as  they  were  elected.  I  have  seen  no  list  previous 
to  this;  but  from  1762  to  '84,  sundry  members  must  have 
died,  two  of  whom  I  remember  —  viz.  Dr.  Jardine  and  Am 
bassador  Keith ;  Dr.  Gregory,  too,  might  be  added,  but  he  did 
not  attend  above  once  or  twice.  The  amount  of  the  whole  on 
this  list  is  sixty-six.*  When  James  Edgar  was  in  Paris  with 
Sir  Laurence  Dundas,  his  cousin,  during  the  flourishing  state 
of  this  club,  he  was  asked  by  D'Alembert  to  go  with  him  to 
their  club  of  literati  at  Paris ;  to  which  he  answered  that  he 
had  no  curiosity  to  visit  them,  as  he  had  a  club  at  Edinburgh, 
with  whom  he  dined  weekly,  composed,  he  believed,  of  the 
ablest  men  in  Europe.  Similar  to  this  was  a  saying  of  Prin 
cess  Dashcoff,  when  disputing  one  day  with  me  at  Buxton 
about  the  superiority  of  Edinburgh,  as  a  residence,  to  most 
other  cities  in  Europe,  when,  having  alleged  sundry  particulars 
in  which  I  thought  we  excelled,  none  of  which  she  would  admit 
of,  —  "  No,"  says  she,  "  but  I  know  one  article  which  you  have 
not  mentioned,  in  which  I  must  give  you  the  precedency ; 
which  is,  that  of  all  the  sensible  men  I  have  met  with  in  my 
travels  through  Europe,  yours  at  Edinburgh  are  the  most 
sensible."  Let  me  add  one  testimony  more,  that  of  the  Hon 
orable  General  James  Murray,  Lord  Elibank's  brother,  a  man 
of  fashion  and  of  the  world.  Being  at  the  Cross  (the  'Change) 
one  day,  just  before  the  hour  of  dinner,  which  by  that  time 
was  prolonged  to  three  o'clock,  he  came  up  to  me,  and  asked 
me  if  I  had  yet  met  with  his  brother  Elibank.  I  answered, 

*  The  list  has  been  already  printed  in  the  Supplement  to  Tytler's  Life  of 
Kames,  with  some  inaccurate  extracts  from  Carlyle's  MS.  This  is  the  best 
extant  account  of  this  curious  institution,  and  nothing  of  value  could  be 
added  to  it  even  from  the  minutes  of  its  proceedings,  which  the  Editor  saw 
in  the  hands  of  the  late  Sir  Adam  Ferguson.  —  ED. 


THE  POKER  CLUB.  343 

"  No ;  was  he  expecting  him  in  town  that  day  ?  "  "  Yes,"  said 
he ;  "  he  promised  to  come,  and  introduce  me  to  the  Poker." 
"  If  that  is  all  your  business,"  replied  I,  "  and  you  will  accept 
of  me  as  your  introductor,  I  shall  be  glad  of  the  honor ;  and 
perhaps  your  brother  may  come  late,  as  he  sometimes  does.'' 
He  .accepted,  and  the  club  happened  to  be  very  well  attended. 
When  we  broke  up,  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock,  it  being 
summer,  and  I  was  proceeding  down  street  to  take  my  horse 
to  Musselburgh,  he  came  up  with  me,  and  exclaimed,  "  Ah, 
Doctor !  I  never  was  so  much  disappointed  in  all  my  life  as 
at  your  club,  for  I  expected  to  sit  silent  and  listen  to  a  parcel 
of  pedants  descanting  on  learned  subjects  out  of  my  range  of 
knowledge  ;  but  instead  of  that,  I  have  met  with  an  agreeable, 
polite,  and  lively  company  of  gentlemen,  in  whose  conversation 
I  have  joined  and  partaken  with  the  greatest  delight."  As 
Murray  was  a  very  acute  and  sensible  man,  I  took  this  as  a 
very  high  compliment  to  the  manners  as  well  as  the  parts  of 
our  club. 

In  April  this  year  Mrs.  C.  went  to  Newcastle,  to  attend  her 
sister,  who  was  to  lie-in  of  her  first  child.  I  went  with  her  to 
Langton  in  Northumberland,  and  returned  home,  Mrs.  B.  hav 
ing  met  her  there. 

I  attended  the  Assembly  of  which  I  was  a  member,  for  the 
first  time  out  of  my  course,  when  Dr.  Trail  of  Glasgow  was 
Moderator.  He  put  upon  me  the  three  addresses  which  were 
sent  up  from  this  Assembly  to  the  King,  the  Queen,  and  the 
Princess-Dowager  of  Wales,  on  the  marriage  of  their  Majes 
ties,  which  were  thought  to  be  well  composed,  especially  that 
to  His  Majesty.  This  even  met  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Commissioner,  though  not  pleased  with  me,  when  on  one  of 
the  preceding  years  I  had  helped  to  raise  bad  humor  against 
him  for  inviting  Whitefield  to  dine  at  his  table,  and  another 
year  he  had  entertained  [a  design]  of  dissolving  the  Assembly 


3-44:  LOKD  ELIBANK'S  ADVENTURES. 

before  the  second  Sunday.  To  be  sure,  the  business  before 
us  was  but  slack,  yet  had  we  allowed  the  precedent  to  take 
place,  we  should  never  have  recovered  that  Sunday  more. 

On  the  last  day  of  this  Assembly  I  learned,  to  my  great 
joy,  that  my  friend  Dr.  William  Wight  was  presented  by  the 
King  to  the  vacant  chair  of  History  at  Glasgow.  As  he  was 
my  near  relation,  his  advancement,  in  which  I  had  a  chief 
hand,  was  very  pleasing ;  and  as  he  was  the  most  agreeable 
of  all  men,  his  coming  near  me  promised  much  enjoyment. 

Towards  the  end  of  June  I  was  earnestly  requested  by 
William  Johnstone,  Esq.,  now  Pulteney,  to  accompany  his 
uncle,  Lord  Elibank,  on  some  jaunt,  to  take  him  from  home, 
as  he  had  just  lost  his  lady,  and  was  in  bad  spirits.  I  agreed, 
on  condition  that  he  would  take  the  road  which  I  wished  to 
go,  which  was  to  Newcastle,  to  bring  home  Mrs.  Carlyle. 
This  was  agreed  to,  and  I  went  to  him  in  a  day  or  two,  and 
we  set  out  on  the  27th  of  June ;  and  as  he  travelled  with  his 
own  horses,  we  did  not  arrive  there  till  the  29th  to  dinner. 
My  fellow-traveller  was  gloomy,  and  lamented  his  wife  very 
much,  who  had  been  a  beauty  in  her  youth,  and  was  a  Dutch 
lady  of  fortune,  the  widow  of  Lord  North  and  Grey.  He 
himself  was  now  turned  sixty,  and  she  was  ten  years  older. 
She  was  a  weak  woman,  but  very  observant  of  him,  and 
seemed  proud  of  his  wit  and  fine  parts,  and  had  no  uneasiness 
about  his  infidelities,  except  as  they  affected  his  prospects  in  a 
future  world.  She  had  a  large  jointure,  which  he  lost,  which 
added  to  his  affliction.  But  she  had  brought  a  large  sum 
besides,  and,  falling  in  with  his  humor  of  saving,  from  being 
a  very  poor  lord  she  had  made  him  very  wealthy.  When  he 
arrived  at  Newcastle,  he  was  at  first  overcome  with  the  sight 
of  my  wife,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  his  lady ;  but  her 
sympathy,  and  the  gentle  manners  of  her  sister,  attracted  his 
notice.  He  had  by  nature  very  great  sensibility  ;  he  admired, 


THE  ROMAN  WALL.  345 

and  had  once  loved,  his  wife,  whom  he  was  conscious  he  had 
injured.  In  this  tender  state  of  vexation,  mixed  with  grief 
and  penitence,  he  met  at  Newcastle  with  a  very  handsome 
young  lady,  Miss  Maria  Fielding,  a  niece  of  Sir  John  Field 
ing,  whose  manners,  softened  by  his  recent  loss  and  melancholy 
appearance,  so  much  subdued  him,  that  he  fell  suddenly  in 
love,  and  was  ashamed  and  afflicted  with  his  own  feelings, 
falling  into  a  kind  of  a  hysterical  fit.  Mrs.  Carlyle  told  me 
afterwards  that  she  had  made  him  confess  this,  which  he  said 
he  did  because  he  saw  she  had  found  him  out.  Hearing  that 
some  of  his  friends  were  at  Harrogate,  he  left  us  on  the  fourth 
or  fifth  day,  and  went  there.  At  this  place  there  was  plenty 
of  gay  company,  and  play,  and  every  sort  of  amusement  for 
an  afflicted  widower,  so  that  his  lordship  soon  forgot  his  lady 
and  her  jointure,  and  Maria  Fielding,  and  all  his  cares  and 
sorrow,  and  became  the  gayest  man  in  the  whole  house  before 
the  month  of  July  elapsed. 

As  we  were  to  go  round  by  Dumfries  to  visit  my  sister 
Dickson,  who  had  fallen  into  a  decline,  and  was  drinking 
goats'  whey  in  the  neighborhood,  we  proposed  to  take  the 
road  to  Carlisle  from  Newcastle  ;  and  Mrs.  Carlyle  not  being 
very  strong,  we  got  Mr.  Blackett's  chaise  for  the  first  day's 
journey.  After  you  have  got  ten  or  twelve  miles  west  from 
Newcastle,  the  country  becomes  dreary  and  desolate,  without 
a  single  interesting  object  but  what  employs  the  curious  re 
search  of  the  antiquarian,  —  the  remains  of  that  Roman  wall 
which  was  constructed  to  prevent  the  inroads  of  the  barbarians 
on  the  Roman  provinces  or  the  defenceless  natives.  The 
wall  in  many  parts  is  wonderfully  entire ;  and  while  it  dem 
onstrates  the  art  and  industry  of  the  Romans,  brings  full  in 
our  view  the  peace  and  security  we  now  enjoy  under  a  govern 
ment  that  unites  the  interest  and  promotes  the  common  pros 
perity  of  the  whole  island.  We  slept  at  Glenwhilt,  a  paltry 
15* 


346  VISITS. 

place,  and  got  to  Brampton  early  next  day,  but  had  to  send 
to  Carlisle  for  a  chaise,  as  I  did  not  choose  to  carry  Mr. 
Blackett's  any  farther.  This  place,  as  is  noted  in  an  account 
of  Dr.  Wight,  is  remarkable  for  the  birth  of  three  persons  in 
the  same  year,  or  nearly  so,  who  got  as  high  in  their  respective 
professions  as  they  possibly  could,  —  Dr.  Thomas,  a  son  of  the 
rector  of  the  parish,  who  came  to  be  Bishop  of  Rochester ; 
Mr.  Wallace,  a  son  of  the  attorney,  who  arrived  at  the  dignity 
of  Attorney- General,  and  would  have  been  Chancellor  had  he 
lived;  and  Dr.  William  Wight,  the  son  of  the  dissenting 
minister,  who  lived  to  be  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Glasgow. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  the  chaise  came  from 
Carlisle,  for  which  I  had  sent,  so  that  we  not  only  breakfasted 
but  dined  here,  when  the  cheapness,  not  less  than  the  good 
ness,  of  our  fare  was  surprising,  as  4s.  Qd.  was  the  whole 
expense  for  Mrs.  Carlyle's  dinner  and  mine,  and  Blackett's 
servant,  and  two  horses,  mine  having  gone  on  to  Carlisle. 
The  environs  of  Carlisle  are  beautiful,  and  Mrs.  Carlyle  was 
much  pleased  with  them.  The  road  from  thence  to  Dumfries 
is  through  a  level  country,  but  not  very  interesting,  being  at 
that  time  unimproved,  and  but  thinly  inhabited.  The  ap 
proach  to  Dumfries  on  every  side  is  pleasing. 

My  sister  Dickson  was  down  at  Newabbey,  ten  miles  be 
low  Dumfries,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Nith,  for  the  sake  of 
goats'  whey.  We  went  down  next  day,  but  found  her  far 
gone  in  a  decline,  a  disorder  which  had  been  so  fatal  to  our 
family.  She  was  well  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Carlyle's  char 
acter  before  she  met  her,  which  she  did  with  the  most  tender 
and  cheerful  affection.  Her  appearance,  she  told  me,  even 
surpassed  all  she  had  heard ;  and  for  the  two  days  they  re 
mained  together,  there  never  was  a  closer  union  of  two  supe 
rior  minds,  softened  by  tenderness  and  adorned  with  every 
female  virtue.  It  was  difficult  to  part  them,  as  they  were 


CHURCH  POLITICS.  347 

sure  they  would  meet  no  more  :  many  confident  promises 
were  made,  however,  to  lighten  as  much  as  possible  the  mel 
ancholy  parting,  which  my  sister  performed  with  such  angelic 
gayety  as  led  Mrs.  Carlyle  into  the  belief  that  she  thought 
herself  in  little  danger.  I  knew  the  contrary.  One  thing  she 
did —  which  was,  to  confirm  me  in  the  opinion  of  what  an 
excellent  mind  it  was  to  which  I  was  united ;  but  this  needed 
no  confirmation.  After  this  scene,  Dumfries  and  the  com 
pany  of  our  friends  was  irksome,  so  we  made  haste  to  meet 
my  mother,  who  had  taken  the  road  home  from  Penrith,  hav 
ing  been  so  long  absent  from  my  father.  We  found  our  little 
girl  in  perfect  health. 

It  was  this  year,  in  September,  that  on  the  death  of  Hyncl- 
man  I  succeeded  him  in  the  place  of  Almoner  to  the  King, 
an  office  of  no  great  emolument,  but  a  mark  of  distinction, 
and  very  convenient,  as  my  stipend  was  small,  for  I  kept  my 
resolution  to  defer  a  prosecution  for  an  augmentation  till  my 
patron  was  of  age.  I  had  reason  to  expect  this  office,  not 
only  by  means  of  John  Home,  now  having  much  of  Lord 
Bute's  ear,  but  from  the  friendship  of  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  and 
Sir  Harry  Erskine,  who  were  friends  of  Lord  Bute.  Charles 
Townshend,  too,  had  made  application  at  this  time,  though  he 
failed  me  before. 

The  death  of  Hyndman  was  a  disappointment  to  Robertson 
in  the  management  of  the  Church,  which  he  had  now  in  view. 
By  his  preference  of  Hyndman,  he  had  provoked  Dick,  who 
was  a  far  better  man,  and  proved  a  very  formidable  and  vig 
orous  opponent ;  for  he  joined  the  Wild  or  High-flying  party, 
and  by  moderating  their  councils  and  defending  their  meas 
ures  as  often  as  he  could,  made  them  more  embarrassing 
than  if  they  had  been  allowed  to  follow  their  own  measures. 
Hyndman  was  a  clever  fellow,  a  good  preacher,  and  a  good 
debater  in  church  courts.  Cuming  had  adopted  him  as  his 


348  ADAM  SMITH  AND  FRANKLIN.. 

second,  and  had  helped  to  bring  him  from  Colinton  to  the 
West  Church.  Being  unfortunate  in  his  family,  he  had  taken 
to  tippling  and  high  politics.  He  finished  his  constitution, 
and  became  apoplectic.  Cuming  and  he  had  quarrelled,  and 
Robertson,  without  adverting  to  his  undone  constitution.* 

It  was  in  about  the  end  of  this  year  that  my  sister  Bell,  and 
her  two  children  then  born  —  William  and  Jessie  —  came 
clown  to  pay  my  father  and  mother  a  visit,  and  stayed  be 
tween  their  houses  and  ours  till  the  month  of  June,  1763. 

1763. 

Thomas  Cheap,  consul  at  Madeira,  my  friend,  came  to 
Edinburgh  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  to  visit  his  friends 
and  look  out  for  a  wife.  After  having  been  plied  by  two  or 
three,  he  at  last  fixed  on  Grace  Stuart,  a  very  pretty  girl, 
and  carried  her.  This  pleased  his  sister  well,  who  was  al 
ways  looking  after  quality ;  for  her  mother,  Lady  Ann,  was 
a  sister  of  the  Earl  of  Murray.  This  courtship  occasioned 
several  pleasant  meetings  of  private  parties  at  Chrystal's,  a 
tavern  in  the  parish,  where  Dr.  Robert  Finlay,  now  possessor 
of  Drummore,  displayed  such  qualities  as  he  had ;  for  he  was 
master  of  one  of  the  feasts,  having  lost  a  dinner  and  a  ball  to 
the  Consul's  sister.  Ann  Collingwood  made  a  good  figure  in 
the  dance,  but  Grace  Collingwood  surpassed  her. 

About  the  end  of  April,  my  sister,  and  my  wife,  and  [I, 
paid]  a  visit  to  our  friends  in  Glasgow,  where  we  were  most 
cordially  received  by  my  old  friends,  Mr.  Dreghorn  and  sun 
dry  other  merchants,  who  were  connected  with  Mr.  Bell  in 

*  The  sentence  is  left  unfinished:  the  intention  seems  to  have  been  to 
say,  that  Robertson  made  him  second  in  command  to  himself  as  leader  of 
the  Church.  Hyndman  is  referred  to  in  Chap.  III.,  and  on  several  other 
occasions.  A  notice  of  him  will  be  found  in  Morren's  Annals  of  the  General 
Assembly,  ii.  402.  —  ED. 


ADAM  SMITH  AND  FRANKLIN.  349 

Airdrie,  particularly  Robin  Boyle  and  the  Dunlops.  Dr, 
Adam  Smith  and  Dr.  Black,  as  well  as  Dr.  Wight,  were 
now  here,  though  the  last  had  not  yet  got  into  his  house. 
"We  had  many  agreeable  meetings  with  them,  as  well  as  with 
our  mercantile  friends.  It  was  there  that  I  saw  No.  45,  when 
just  published  by  Wilkes,  of  which  Smith  said,  on  hearing  it 
read,  "  Bravo !  this  fellow  will  either  be  hanged  in  six  months, 
or  he  will  get  Lord  Bute  impeached."  Supping  with  him  in 
i  company  of  twenty-two,  when  a  certain  young  peer  was 
present,  after  a  little  while  I  whispered  him  that  I  wondered 
they  had  set  up  this  man  so  high,  as  I  thought  him  mighty 
foolish.  "  We  know  that  perfectly,"  said  he  ;  "  but  he  is  the 
only  lord  at  our  college."  To  this  day  there  were  not  above 
two  or  three  gentlemen's  chaises  in  Glasgow,  nor  hackney- 
coaches,  nor  men-servants  to  attend  at  table ;  but  they  were 
not  the  worse  served. 

Soon  after  we  returned  home  in  the  "beginning  of  May,  my 
sister  and  her  children  returned  to  London,  but  took  the  way 
by  Dumfries  to  visit  their  friends  there. 

Dr.  Robertson  was  Moderator  of  the  Assembly  this  year, 
and  being  now  Principal  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  had 
it  in  his  power  to  be  member  of  Assembly  every  year.  He 
had  lost  Hyndman,  but  he  had  now  adopted  Dr.  John  Drys- 
dale,  who  had  married  his  cousin,  one  of  the  Adams,  a  far 
better  man  in  every  respect ;  for  he  had  good  talents  for 
business,  though  his  invincible  modesty  prevented  his  speaking 
in  public.  He  now  managed  the  Highland  correspondence, 
and  became  extremely  popular  in  that  division  of  the  Church. 
Robertson  had  now  Dr.  Dick  as  his  stated  opponent,  who 
would  have  been  very  formidable  had  he  not  been  tied  up  by 
his  own  principles,  which  were  firm  in  support  of  presenta 
tions,  and  by  his  not  having  it  in  his  power  to  be  a  member 
of  Assembly  more  than  once  in  four  or  five  years,  on  account 


350  ROBERTSON  AXD  CHURCH  POLITICS. 

of  the  strict  rotation  observed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Edin 
burgh. 

Andrew  Crosbie,  the  advocate,  was  another  constant  and 
able  opponent  of  Dr.  Robertson  and  his  friends,  though  ham 
pered  a  little  by  the  law  of  patronage.  His  maternal  uncle, 
Lord  Tinwald,  the  Justice-Clerk,  who  was  his  patron,  being 
dead,  he  wished  to  gain  employment  by  pleasing  the  popular 
side.  Fairbairn,  the  minister  of  Dumbarton,  was  another  op 
ponent,  —  brisk  and  foul-mouthed,  who  stuck  at  nothing,  and 
was  endowed  with  a  rude  popular  eloquence ;  but  he  was  a 
mere  hussar,  who  had  no  steady  views  to  direct  him.  He  was 
a  member  of  every  assembly,  and  spoke  in  every  cause,  but 
chiefly  for  plunder,  —  that  is,  applause  and  dinners,  —  for  he 
did  not  seem  to  care  whether  he  lost  or  won.  Robertson's 
soothing  manner  prevented  his  being  hard-mouthed  with  him. 

Dr.  Robertson  had  for  his  assistants  [not  only]  all  the 
moderate  party  in  Edinburgh  and  the  neighborhood,  but  many 
clergyman  annually  from  the  most  distant  Synods  and  Pres 
byteries  ;  who,  now  that  the  debates  of  the  Assembly  were 
carried  on  with  freedom,  though  still  with  great  order,  were 
very  good  speakers  and  able  debaters.  There  were  very  few 
of  the  lay  elders  of  much  consideration  who  opposed  him ; 
and  Henry  Dundas  (Lord  Melville),  who  was  in  himself  a 
host,  coming  next  year  to  our  aid,  [added  greatly  to  our 
strength,  and  made  the  business  fashionable,  for  till  then]  many 
of  the  superior  elders  deserted  the  Assembly,  insomuch  that 
I  remember  one  year,  that  when  a  most  important  overture 
was  debated,  there  was  neither  one  of  the  Judges  nor  of  the 
Crown  lawyers  in  the  Assembly.* 

In  May,  this  year,  we  had  a  visit  from  the  Blacketts,  who 
did  not  stay  long  ;  and  having  an  appointment  with  Dr.  Wight 
to  go  for  a  few  weeks  to  Harrogate,  we  set  out  in  the  begin- 

*  The  passage  in  brackets  is  in  the  MS.,  but  not  in  the  Author's  hand. 


HARROGATE  IN  1763.  351 

ning  of  July,  and  on  our  way  passed  some  days  in  Newcastle, 
where  Wight,  who  was  a  stranger,  made  his  usual  impression 
as  one  of  the  most  agreeable  men  they  had  ever  seen.  When 
we  arrived  at  the  Dragon,  in  Harrogate,  however,  Wight's 
vivacity  was  alarmed  at  the  shyness  of  the  English,  who  are 
backward  to  make  up  to  strangers  till  they  have  reconnoitred 
them  a  while.  Wight  was  much  enraged  at  this,  and  threat 
ened  either  to  leave  the  place,  or  to  breakfast  in  a  private 
room.  I  prevailed  with  him  to  have  his  table  set  in  the  long 
room,  where  our  demeanor  being  observed  by  the  company, 
we  were  soon  relieved  from  our  awkward  situation  by  an  invi 
tation  from  two  ladies,  who  had  no  men  with  them,  to  come 
to  their  breakfast-table,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  place 
at  this  time.  We  found  them  very  agreeable,  and  were  envied 
for  our  good  luck.  When  we  entered  the  dining-room  at  two 
o'clock  we  were  no  longer  strangers,  and  took  our  places  ac 
cording  to  the  custom  of  the  house.  There  were  two  tables 
in  the  dining-room,  which  held  between  thirty  and  forty 
apiece,  and  our  places  were  at  the  bottom  of  that  on  the  right 
hand,  from  whence  we  were  gradually  to  rise  to  the  top  of  the 
room  as  the  company  changed,  which  was  daily. 

Harrogate  at  this  time  was  very  pleasant,  for  there  was  a 
constant  succession  of  good  company,  and  the  best  entertain 
ment  of  any  watering-place  in  Britain,  at  the  least  expense. 
The  house  we  were  at  was  not  only  frequented  by  the  Scotch 
at  this  time,  but  was  the  favorite  house  of  the  English  nobility 
and  gentry.  Breakfast  cost  gentlemen  only  2d.  apiece  for 
their  muffins,  as  it  was  the  fashion  for  ladies  to  furnish  tea 
and  sugar  ;  dinner,  Is. ;  supper,  Qd. ;  chambers,  nothing  ;  wine 
and  other  extras  at  the  usual  price,  and  as  little  as  you  please  ; 
horses  and  servants  at  a  reasonable  rate.  We  had  two 
haunches  of  venison  twice  a  week  during  the  season.  The 
ladies  gave  afternoon's  tea  and  coffee  in  their  turns,  which, 


352  HARROGATE  IN  1763. 

coming  but  once  in  four  or  five  weeks,  amounted  to  a  trifle. 
The  estates  of  the  people  at  our  table  did  not  amount  to  less 
than  £  50,000  or  £  60,000  per  annum,  among  whom  were 
several  members  of  parliament ;  and  they  had  not  had  the 
precaution  to  order  one  newspaper  among  them  all,  though 
the  time  was  critical ;  but  Andrew  Millar,  the  celebrated  book 
seller,  supplied  that  defect,  for  he  had  two  papers  sent  to  him 
by  every  post,  so  that  all  the  baronets  and  great  squires  — 
your  Sir  Thomas  Claverings,  and  Sir  Harry  Grays,  and  Drum- 
mond  of  Blairdrummond  —  depended  upon  and  paid  him 
civility  accordingly ;  and  yet  when  he  appeared  in  the  morn 
ing,  in  his  old  well-worn  suit  of  clothes,  they  could  not  help 
calling  him  Peter  Pamphlet ;  for  the  generous  patron  of 
Scotch  authors,  with  his  city  wife  and  her  niece,  were  suffi 
ciently  ridiculous  when  they  came  into  good  company.  It 
was  observed,  however,  that  she  did  not  allow  him  to  go  down 
to  the  well  with  her  in  the  chariot  in  his  morning  dress, 
though  she  owned  him  at  dinner-time,  as  he  had  to  pay  the 
extraordinaries. 

As  Wight  had  never  been  in  York,  we  went  down  early  on 
a  Sunday  morning,  when  we  heard  that  the  Archbishop  and 
the  Judges  were  to  be  in  the  Cathedral.  We  had  Dr.  Hunter, 
M.  D.,  who  at  that  time  frequented  Harrogate,  for  our  guide  ; 
but  he  was  kept  in  such  close  conversation  that  he  mistook  the 
road,  and  led  us  two  miles  out  of  our  way,  so  that  we  had  but 
just  time  to  breakfast  before  we  went  to  church,  when  the  ser 
vice  being  begun,  we  entered  the  choir,  where  it  was  crowded 
to  the  door.  Our  eyes  were  delighted  with  such  a  magnificent 
show,  but  our  ears  were  not  so  highly  pleased,  for  no  part  of 
the  service  seemed  to  us  to  suit  the  grandeur  of  the  scene. 
We  were  invited  to  dine  with  Mr.  Scott  from  Madeira, 
Thomas  Cheap's  partner;  but  Wight  had  engaged  to  dine 
with  the  Honorable  Archdeacon  Hamilton,  whose  education 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  353 

he  had  superintended  for  a  year  at  Glasgow,  and  with  whom 
he  was  well  acquainted  in  Ireland,  where  his  preferment  lay. 
His  beautiful  wife  had  eloped  from  him  with  a  Sir  George 
Warren,  and  he  had  received  her  again,  and  was  living  pri 
vately  at  York  till  the  story  became  stale.  Wight  extolled 
her  beauty  and  her  penitence  —  and,  if  I  remember  right, 
they  continued  to  live  together,  and  had  sons  and  daughters. 
We  passed  the  evening  with  Mr.  Scott,  who  had  with  him  a 
large  party  of  Americans  —  Mr.  Allen,  Justice-General  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  his  two  sons  and  daughters,  fine  young 
people  indeed,  the  eldest  of  them  not  yet  twenty  years  of  age : 
with  them  there  was  also  a  Mr.  Livingstone,  and,  I  think,  a 
sister  of  his  also.  Mr.  Allen  was  a  man  very  open  and  com 
municative,  and  as  he  was  of  Scottish  extraction,  his  grand 
father  having  fled  from  Stirlingshire  to  escape  the  cruel  per 
secutions  of  the  Presbyterians  by  Lauderdale  and  James  II., 
he  seemed  partial  to  us  as  clergymen  from  Scotland.  He  said 
he  intended  to  have  gone  as  far  as  Edinburgh,  but  found  he 
should  not  have  time  at  present,  but  was  to  leave  his  sons  in 
England  to  complete  their  education.  He  wished  us  to  stay 
all  next  day,  and  come  an  hour  in  the  forenoon  to  examine  his 
lads,  to  judge  to  what  a  length  young  men  could  now  be  brought 
in  America.  This  we  declined,  but  agreed  to  dine  next  day, 
and  bring  on  such  conversation  as  would  enable  us  to  judge 
better  of  the  young  men  than  any  formal  examination. 

There  was  a  circumstance  that  I  shall  never  forget,  which 
passed  in  one  of  our  conversations.  Dr.  Wight  and  I  had 
seen  Dr.  Franklin  at  Edinburgh,  as  I  have  formerly  related :  we 
mentioned  this  philosopher  to  Mr.  Allen  with  the  respect  we 
thought  due,  and  he  answered,  "  Yes,  all  you  have  said  of  him 
is  true,  and  I  could  add  more  in  his  praise ;  but  though  I  have 
now  got  the  better  of  him,  he  has  cost  me  more  trouble  since 
he  came  to  reside  in  our  State  than  all  mankind  besides ;  and 

w 


354  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

I  can  assure  you  that  he  is  a  man  so  turbulent,  and  such  a 
plotter,  as  to  be  able  to  embroil  the  three  kingdoms,  if  he  ever 
has  an  opportunity."  Franklin  was  after  this  for  several 
weeks  in  Edinburgh  with  David  Hume,  but  I  did  not  see  him, 
having  been  from  home  on  some  jaunt.  In  1769  or  '70  I  met 
him  at  an  invited  dinner  in  London,  at  John  Stuart's,  the 
Provost's  son  I  think  it  was,  where  he  was  silent  and  incon- 
versible,  but  this  was  after  he  had  been  refused  the  office  of 
Postmaster- General  of  America,  and  had  got  a  severe  dressing 
from  Wedderburn,  then  Solicitor  or  Attorney-General.  We 
returned  to  Harrogate  in  the  evening,  where  Mr.  Scott  and  his 
wife  joined  us  next  day. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  at  dinner  to  sit  next  Mr.  Ann,  a 
Roman  Catholic  gentleman  of  Yorkshire,  who  was  very  agree 
able,  and  knew  the  whole  company  ;  but  it  was  our  misfortune 
to  lose  our  new  friends  very  fast,  for  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight 
I  was  at  the  head  of  a  table,  above  thirty,  and,  I  remember, 
had  to  divide  a  haunch  of  venison  among  fifteen  of  them  with 
out  getting  any  portion  of  fat  for  myself  —  "  But  what  signifies 
that,  when  you  have  an  opportunity  of  obliging  your  friends  ?  " 
as  Sir  J.  Dalrymple  said  to  me  one  day  when  we  had  a  haunch 
at  the  Poker,  flattering  me  for  a  good  piece,  for  he  was  a 
gourmand.  But  it  was  wonderful  to  observe  how  easily  we 
united  with  our  new  friends  who  took  the  places  of  the  de 
ceased,  for  most  of  them  were  in  reality  so  to  us.  We  fell  in 
by  accident  with  a  very  agreeable  man,  a  Colonel  Roberts, 
who  was  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Royal  Irish,  and  had  been 
in  that  country  for  three  years,  and  had  so  completely  caught 
the  brogue  that  it  was  impossible  at  first  to  think  him  an 
Englishman  born  and  bred,  which  he  nevertheless  was,  and 
nephew  to  Lord  Egremont,  Secretary  of  State  at  the  time. 
This  gentleman,  by  ill-luck,  had  been  directed  to  the  Salutation 
Inn,  which  was  the  Quakers'  house,  of  excellent  entertainment, 


LORD  CLIVE.  355 

but  indifferent  company.  He  took  much  to  Wight  and  me, 
and  we  would  fain  have  drawn  him  to  our  house,  but  he  would 
not  for  the  world  affront  the  good  people,  with  whom  he  had 
lived  a  week.  So  we  compromised  the  matter,  and  went 
sometimes  to  dine  at  his  house,  and  he  returned  the  visit  and 
came  to  ours.  He  was  truly  a  man  of  sense,  and  of  much 
reading,  and  a  great  master  of  conversation :  he  was  the  first 
whom  I  met  with  who  struck  out  an  idea  that  has  been  fol 
lowed  since  ;  for,  talking  much  of  Hume's  and  Robertson's 
Histories,  he  said  that  Hume  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  Homer 
and  Robertson  the  Virgil  of  British  historians,  —  a  criticism 
that  has  of  late  been  confirmed  by  Dugald  Stewart's  quota 
tion. 

Our  friend  Captain  Francis  Lindsay  was  at  the  Granby, 
who  sometimes  dined  with  us,  as  we  did  one  day  with  him, 
when  we  understood  that  Lord  Clive  and  his  train  were  to 
dine  there ;  and  he  had  arrived  the  evening  before,  of  which 
Lindsay  informed  us,  and  we  went  in  due  time  to  dinner. 
Clive  was  an  ill-looking  man,  with  the  two  sides  of  his  face 
much  unlike,  one  of  them  seeming  distorted  as  with  the  palsy. 
When  we  entered  the  long  room,  he  was  sitting  at  a  table  in 
a  window  with  a  great  many  papers  before  him,  which  he  had 
received  with  that  day's  post.  It  was  by  those  despatches 
that  he  had  learned  that  his  jagire  was  taken  from  him. 
Lindsay  had  watched  his  countenance  from  the  moment  he 
got  them,  but  could  perceive  no  change  in  the  muscles  of  his 
face,  which  were  well  suited  to  bad  news.  But  he  must  have 
known  before  this  time  what  had  happened.  He  sat  at  some 
distance  from  me  on  the  opposite  side,  but  he  seemed  to  con 
verse  with  nobody  during  dinner,  and  left  the  table  immediately 
after.  There  were  half  a  dozen  people  with  him,  among 
whom  were  his  favorite  secretaries,  both  jolly  fellows,  who 
loved  a  glass  of  claret,  which  Lindsay  recommended  to  them, 
and  which  was  truly  good. 


356  ENGLISH  WATERING-PLACES. 

Thomas  Cheap,  my  friend  from  Madeira,  who  had  been 
married  at  Inveresk  with  Grace  Stuart,  came  to  Harrogate, 
according  to  his  promise,  to  visit  Lindsay  and  me.  He  came 
to  the  Dragon,  and  remained  four  days  with  us.  She  was 
very  handsome  and  spirited,  and  made  a  great  impression. 
Robert  Berry  and  his  beautiful  wife  were  there  at  the  same 
time,  and  it  could  not  be  doubted  that  she  was  the  finer 
woman  of  the  two  ;  yet  our  fair  Caledonian  had  so  much 
frankness  and  spirit,  and  danced  so  exquisitely,  that  she  car 
ried  off  all  hearts,  insomuch  that  there  was  a  sensible  degree 
of  regret  and  gloominess  in  the  company  for  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  at  least  after  she  left  it. 

Wight  and  I  rode  one  day  to  Hackfell,  a  place  of  the  Aisla- 
bies,  a  few  miles  beyond  Ripon,  through  a  most  delightful 
country,  no  part  of  which  is  finer  than  Ripley.  Hackfell  con 
sists  of  a  few  wooded  hills  on  both  sides  of  a  valley,  terminat 
ing  in  a  fine  village  on  the  banks  of  a  small  river,  called 
Masham.  There  are  fine  walks  cut  through  the  woods,  which 
make  the  place  very  delightful.  Many  such  are  now  in  Scot 
land,  since  our  great  proprietors  have  found  the  way  to  lay 
open  the  secret  beauties  of  their  romantic  domains  to  stran 
gers.  Not  being  able  to  reach  Harrogate  to  dinner,  we 
tried  to  get  something  at  Grewelthorpe,  the  adjacent  village ; 
but  there  was  no  fire  in  the  house,  nor  anything,  indeed,  but 
very  bad  oat  bread  and  some  ordinary  cheese.  Rummaging 
about  in  the  awmry,  however,  I  found  at  last  about  two 
pounds'  weight  of  cold  roast  veal,  which  was  a  great  prize, 
especially  now  that  two  gentlemen  had  joined  us,  an  Hano 
verian  nobleman,  and  a  Dr.  Dod  from  London  —  not  he  of 
infamous  memory,  but  another  of  perfect  good  character  and 
very  agreeable  manners.  We  visited  many  fine  places  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  particularly  Harewood,  the  seat  of  Squire 
Lascelles,  now  Lord  Harewood,  where  there  is  a  very  fine 


ENGLISH  WATERING-PLACES.  357 

house  built  by  Robert  Adam,  and  then  not  inhabited.  The 
house  might  have  had  a  finer  site,  had  it  been  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  more  to  the  north,  where  there  is  a  full  view  of  one 
of  the  finest  vales  in  Yorkshire.  Next  year  I  visited  this 
place  again  with  my  wife  and  the  Blacketts,  and  having  been 
rebuked  by  Sir  David  Dalrymple  for  having  omitted  it  be 
fore  (because  I  was  ignorant  of  its  curiosity),  I  went  into  the 
village  church,  and  saw  the  monument  of  the  Chief-Justice 
Gascoigne,  a  native  here,  who  had  arrested  Henry  V.,  when 
Prince  of  Wales,  for  a  riot. 

Harrogate  abounded  with  half-pay  officers  and  clergymen. 
The  first  are  much  the  same  at  all  times,  ill  educated,  but  well 
bred ;  and  when  you  now  and  then  meet  with  a  scholar  such 
as  Colonel  Roberts,  or  my  old  friend  whom  I  knew  when 
Lieutenant  Ward  at  Musselburgh  —  a  little  stuttering  fellow, 
about  the  year  1749,  who  had  read  Polybius  and  Cassar  twice 
over,  and  who  rose  to  be  a  general  and  commander  of  the 
cavalry  in  Ireland  —  you  will  find  him  as  intelligent  as  agree-? 
able.  Of  the  clergy  I  had  never  seen  so  many  together  before, 
and  between  this  and  the  following  year  I  was  able  to  form  a 
true  judgment  of  them.  They  are,  in  general  —  I  mean  the 
lower  order  —  divided  into  bucks  and  prigs ;  of  which  the  first, 
though  inconceivably  ignorant,  and  sometimes  indecent  in  their 
morals,  yet  I  held  them  to  be  most  tolerable,  because  they 
were  unassuming,  and  had  no  other  affectation  but  that  of 
behaving  themselves  like  gentlemen.  The  other  division  of 
them,  the  prigs,  are  truly  not  to  be  endured,  for  they  are  but 
half  learned,  are  ignorant  of  the  world,  narrow-minded,  pe 
dantic,  and  overbearing.  And  now  and  then  you  meet  with  a 
rara  avis  who  is  accomplished  and  agreeable,  a  man  of  the 
world  without  licentiousness,  of  learning  without  pedantry,  and 
pious  without  sanctimony ;  but  this  is  a  rara  avis. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  seen  John  Bull  at  any  of  his 


358  ENGLISH  WATERING-PLACES. 

watering-places,  and  I  thought  it  not  difficult  to  account  for  his 
resort  to  them.  John  is  an  honest  and  worthy  person  as  any 
in  the  world,  but  he  is  seldom  happy  at  home.  He  has  in  his 
temper  a  shyness  that  approaches  to  timidity,  and  a  deference 
for  the  opinion  of  his  servant  that  overawes  him,  and  keeps 
him  in  constraint  at  home,  while  he  is  led  into  unreasonable 
expense.  At  his  watering-places  he  is  free  from  these 
shackles;  his  reserve  is  overcome  by  the  frankness  of  those 
he  meets ;  he  is  master  of  his  servants,  for  he  carries  only  two 
with  him ;  and  the  man  of  £  10,000  per  annum  can  spend  no 
more  than  the  man  of  £  500,  so  that  the  honest  man  finds  him 
self  quite  unfettered,  and  is  ready  to  show  his  kind  and  sociable 
disposition ;  he  descends  from  his  imaginary  dignity  by  mixing 
with  those  who  are  richer  than  himself,  and  soon  shows  you 
what  he  really  is,  viz.  the  very  best  sort  of  man  in  the  world. 
The  late  wars  have  been  very  favorable  to  the  improving  and 
disclosing  his  character,  for  instead  of  going  into  France, 
where  he  was  flattered,  laughed  at,  and  plundered,  he  is  now 
obliged  to  make  all  his  summer  excursions  round  his  own 
country,  where  his  heart  expands;  and,  being  treated  as  he 
deserves,  returns  home  for  the  winter  happy  and  much  im 
proved. 

At  this  period  everything  was  cheap  and  good  at  Harrogate, 
except  wine,  which,  unless  it  was  their  claret,  which  was 
everywhere  good  and  reasonable,  was  very  bad  indeed.  John 
Bull,  however,  has  little  taste,  and  does  not  much  care ;  for, 
provided  he  goes  to  bed  muzzy,  whether  it  be  with  his  own 
native  drink,  ale,  or  sophisticated  port,  he  is  perfectly  con 
tented. 

As  I  designed  to  convey  Wight  to  Dumfries,  and  Captain 
Lindsay  was  going  by  Lochmaben  to  visit  his  brother  James, 
the  minister,  we  agreed  to  set  out  together,  and  made  a  veiy 
agreeable  journey.  Some  part  of  the  road  was  dreary  after 


ENGLISH  WATERING-PLACES.  359 

we  passed  Sir  Thomas  Robertson's,  which  is  a  fine  place,  and 
where  there  is  an  inscription  fairly  acknowledging  that  the 
family  took  its  rise  from  a  Scotch  peddler.  When  we  ap 
proached  Appleby,  we  were  delighted  with  the  appearance  of 
the  country,  which,  being  a  mixture  of  hill  and  dale,  of  wood 
and  water,  of  cultivated  and  uncultivated,  is  far  more  pleasing 
to  the  eye  and  the  imagination  than  those  rich  plains  which 
are  divided  into  small  squares  or  parallelograms,  which  look 
Iikt3  bleach-fields  for  cotton,  on  the  banks  of  the  Clyde  or 
Leven.  At  Penrith  we  resolved  to  stop  a  day,  to  rest  our 
horses,  and  to  take  the  opportunity  of  going  to  visit  the  lake 
Keswick,  of  which  we  had  heard  so  much.  Next  morning 
we  took  a  post-chaise  and  four  and  drove  thither,  over  a  rough 
road,  through  a  barren  country,  to  the  village,  at  the  distance 
of  eighteen  miles.  We  were  unlucky,  for  it  proved  a  rainy 
afternoon,  so  that  we  could  not  sail  on  the  lake,  and  saw  ev 
erything  to  great  disadvantage.  We  returned  to  Penrith, 
where  we  had  good  entertainment  and  excellent  claret. 

Next  morning  we  set  out  northwards,  and  separated  from 
Captain  Lindsay  when  we  came  to  Longtown,  for  he  went  to 
Lochmaben,  and  we  took  the  road  to  Dumfries,  where,  after 
staying  a  few  days,  I  took  the  road  home  by  Moffkt,  and 
Wight  went  over  to  Ireland,  once  more  to  visit  his  friends 
there.  I  found  my  wife  and  little  daughter  in  good  health, 
with  a  fair  prospect  of  another  erelong.  My  wife  had  sup 
posed  that  I  had  some  scorbutic  symptoms,  which  had  been 
removed  by  Harrogate  waters. 

The  remainder  of  the  season  passed  on  as  usual,  but  I  was 
not  any  more  from  home,  except  now  and  then  in  Edinburgh 
at  the  Poker  Club,  which  ceased  to  meet  by  the  12th  of  Au 
gust,  and  reopened  on  the  12th  of  November. 

Luke  Home,  our  Aunt  Home's  youngest  son,  came  to  us  to 
be  at  the  school  a  year  or  two  before,  and  remained  four 


360  ENGLISH  WATEEING-P LACES. 

years.  Their  daughter,  Betty,  came  after,  and  stayed  two  or 
three  years.  On  the  first  day  of  December  this  year  my  wife 
brought  me  a  second  daughter,  which,  after  trying  in  vain  to 
nurse,  she  gave  to  a  very  faithful  and  trusty  woman  in  Fish- 
errow,  who,  after  remaining  one  quarter  with  us,  we  allowed 
to  take  the  child  to  her  own  house,  where  she  continued  to 
thrive  to  our  entire  satisfaction. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

1764-1766:  AGE,  42-44. 

DOMESTIC  AFFAIRS.  —  HENRY  DUNDAS.  —  HARROGATE  REVISITED.  — 
ADVENTURES  WITH  A  BEMARKABLE  BORE. — THE  AUTHOR  OF  "  CRAZY 
TALES."  —  AMBASSADOR  KEITH.  —  P^DUCATION  OF  THE  SCOTS  GENTRY. 

—  JOHN  GREGORY.  —  MRS.  MONTAGUE  AND  HER  COTERIE.  —  DEATH  OF 
THE  AUTHOR'S  FATHER.  —  SUDDEN  DEATH  OF  HIS  FRIEND  JARDINE. 

—  CHURCH  POLITICS. 

IT  was  in  February  this  year,  I  think,  that  Mrs.  Carlyle, 
being  perfectly  recovered,  and  I  accompanied  her  uncle  and 
aunt,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Home,  to  Glasgow,  to  see  their  son  Wal 
ter,  who  was  in  quarters  there  with  his  regiment,  the  7th 
Foot.  Dr.  Wight  had  by  that  time  got  into  his  house  in  the 
College,  and  had  got  his  youngest  sister  to  keep  his  house, 
who  was  remarkably  handsome,  had  very  good  parts,  with  the 
frank  and  open  manner  of  the  Dumfriesians.  Her  brother 
did  not  disappoint  her  turn  for  social  entertainment,  for  he 
loved  company,  and  the  house  was  not  without  them  almost 
any  day.  Here  we  and  our  friends  were  handsomely  enter 
tained,  as  well  as  at  Mrs.  Dreghorn's,  where  we  lodged  ;  and 
at  her  brother's,  Mr.  Bogle's,  who  never  relaxed  in  his  attach 
ment  to  me.  Walter  Home,  then  only  a  lieutenant,  whose 
chum  was  a  Mr.  Mainwarring,  a  very  agreeable  man,  had 
made  himself  very  respectable  in  Glasgow,  to  which  he  was 
well  entitled,  as  much  from  his  superior  sense  and  knowledge, 
as  from  his  social  turn.  John  Home,  by  one  of  his  benevo 
lent  mistakes,  had  put  him  about  James  Stuart,  Lord  Bute's 
16 


362  HENRY  DUNDAS. 

second  son,  whom  he  was  engaged  to  attend  daily  while  he 
lived  with  Dr.  Robertson  in  Edinburgh. 

At  this  time  Henry  Dundas,  the  most  strenuous  advocate 
for  the  law  of  the  land  respecting  presentations,  and  the 
ablest  and  steadiest  friend  to  Dr.  Robertson  and  his  party 
that  ever  appeared  in  my  time,  became  a  member  of  Assem 
bly.  He  constantly  attended  the  Assembly  before  and  after 
he  was  Solicitor-General,  though  when  he  rose  to  be  Lord 
Advocate  and  member  of  Parliament,  he  was  sometimes 
detained  in  London  till  after  the  meeting  of  Assembly.  He 
was  more  than  a  match  for  the  few  lawyers  who  took  the 
opposite  side,  and  even  for  Crosbie,  who  was  playing  a  game, 
and  Dr.  Dick,  who  was  by  far  the  ablest  clergyman  in  opposi 
tion.  I  am  not  certain  whether  Henry  Dundas  did  not  excel 
more  as  a  barrister  than  he  did  as  a  judge  in  a  popular  as 
sembly  —  in  the  first,  by  his  entering  so  warmly  into  the 
interest  of  his  client  as  totally  to  forget  himself,  and  to  adopt 
all  the  feelings,  sentiments,  and  interests  of  his  employer ; 
in  the  second,  by  a  fair  and  candid  statement  of  the  question, 
and  followed  it  by  strong  and  open  reasoning  in  support  of  his 
opinion.  For  a  few  years  at  this  period  there  was  a  great 
struggle  in  the  General  Assembly  against  the  measures  sup 
ported  and  carried  through  by  Robertson  and  his  friends,  and 
we  had  to  combat  the  last  exertions  of  the  party  who  had 
supported  popular  calls  ;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  their 
efforts  were  vigorous.  They  contrived  to  bring  in  overtures 
from  year  to  year,  in  which  they  proposed  to  consult  the 
country,  in  the  belief  that  the  result  would  be  such  a  general 
opinion  over  the  kingdom  as  would  oblige  the  General  As 
sembly  to  renew  their  application  for  the  abolition  of  patron 
age,  or  at  least  for  some  more  lenient  exercise  of  it.  Those 
endeavors  were  encouraged  by  a  new  schism  in  the  Church, 
which  was  laid  by  a  Mr.  Baine,  minister  of  Paisley,  which  in 


CONTROVERSIES.  363 

a  few  years  produced  a  numerous  body  of  new  seceders,  called 
the  Presbytery  of  Relief,  who  had  no  fault  to  anything  but 
presentations.  This  faction  was  supported  for  several  years 
by  a  strange  adventurer,  a  Mr.  William  Alexander,  the  sec 
ond  son  of  the  provost  of  that  name,  who  of  all  the  men  I 
have  known  had  the  strongest  propensity  to  plotting,  with  the 
finest  talents  for  such  a  business.  As  his  attempts  to  speak 
in  the  Assembly  were  unsuccessful,  and  drew  nothing  on  him 
but  ridicule,  he  actually  wrote  to  Dr.  Blair  (I  have  seen  the 
letter),  offering  him  a  thousand  pounds  if  he  could  teach  him 
the  art  of  speaking  in  public.  As  Blair  was  Professor  of 
Rhetoric  and  Belles-Lettres,  he  thought  he  was  the  most 
likely  person  to  comply  with  his  request ;  but  he  had  not 
observed  that  Dr.  Blair  never  spoke  in  public  himself,  but 
from  the  pulpit,  from  whence  he  might  have  gathered  that 
the  knowledge  of  rhetoric  was  different  from  the  practice. 

It  was  in  this  year  that  Dr.  Drysdale  was  translated  from 
Kirkliston  to  Edinburgh  after  a  long  struggle  with  the  popular 
body,  the  General  Session  of  Edinburgh,  who,  with  the  Town 
Council,  had  for  many  years  elected  all  the  ministers.  The 
Magistrates  and  Council  reassuined  their  right  of  presentation 
in  this  case,  and  after  much  litigation  established  it,  much  for 
the  peace  of  the  city.  During  the  contest,  which  was  violent, 
my  friend  Dr.  Jardine  rode  out  to  me,  and  requested  me  to 
draw  up  a  paper  in  their  defence,  which  I  did  on  his  furnish 
ing  me  with  the  facts,  and  published  under  the  title  of  Faction 
Detected.  This  I  mention,  because  Mr.  Robertson,  the  Pro 
curator,  asked  me  once  if  it  was  not  of  his  father's  composing, 
for  so  it  had  been  said  to  him.  But  I  told  him  the  fact,  and 
at  the  same  time  gave  him  the  reasons  of  dissent  from  a  sen 
tence  of  the  Commission  of  1751  or  '52,  which  had  been 
originally  drawn  by  Dr.  Robertson,  though  corrected  and  en 
larged  by  a  committee.  This  pamphlet  had  so  much  effect 


364          CHANCELLOR  LOUGHBOEOUGH. 

that  the  opposition  employed  their  first  hand,  Dr.  Dick,  to 
write  an  answer  to  it ;  and  yet  neither  the  provost,  nor  any  of 
the  magistrates,  nor  Drysdale  himself,  ever  thanked  me  for  it. 
Dr.  Jardine  perhaps  never  told  his  father-in-law,  Drummond, 
and  I  never  asked  him  about  it.  Lindsay,  who  was  restless, 
for  whom  John  Home  had  obtained  Lochmaben,  now  got 
Kirkliston,  and  Lord  Bute  sent  Dicky  Brown  to  Lochmaben, 
for  which  he  had  no  thanks  from  the  neighborhood,  for  though 
Lindsay's  temper  was  not  very  congruous  to  his  brethren  and 
neighbors,  yet  he  was  a  gentleman,  whereas  the  other  was  the 
contrary,  and  sometimes  deranged. 

In  the  end  of  summer  I  went  again  with  Mrs.  Carlyle  to 
Harrogate,  as  her  health  was  not  good,  and  as  the  [change], 
if  not  the  waters,  might  be  good  for  her.  I  got  an  open  chaise 
with  two  horses — one  before  the  other,  and  the  servant  on  the 
first.  As  many  of  the  roads  through  which  we  went  were  not 
at  all  improved,  we  found  this  an  excellent  way  of  travelling. 
We  visited  our  friends  in  the  Merse  and  in  the  north  of 
England  by  the  way,  and  stayed  some  days  at  Newcastle.  As 
Mr.  Blackett  and  his  lady  were  going  soon  to  Ripon  to  visit 
his  mother,  they  agreed  to  come  on  for  a  week  to  Horrogate, 
after  which  we  would  return  with  them  by  York,  where  Mrs. 
Carlyle  had  never  been. 

The  assizes  were  at  Newcastle  while  we  were  there,  and 
Alexander  Wedderburn  was  attending  as  a  counsellor.*  He 
had  been  there  the  preceding  year,  but  had  not  a  cause.  Mr. 

,  an  old  counsellor,  who  had  left  London  and  settled  at 

Leeds,  had  become  acquainted  with  him,  and  had  discovered 
the  superiority  of  his  talents.  He  got  him  two  or  three  briefs 
this  circuit,  and  his  appearances  were  such  as  insured  him 
future  success.  This  very  gentleman  pointed  out  his  first  lady 

*  The  reader  need  hardly  be  reminded  that  the  Alexander  Wedderburn 
so  frequently  mentioned  became  Lord  Chancellor  Loughborough.  —  ED. 


A   CRIMINAL   TRIAL.  365 

to  him,  with  whom  he  got  £  10,000.  When  the  assizes  were 
over  he  dined  with  us  at  Mr.  Blackett's,  where  his  talent  for 
conversation  not  being  equal  to  that  at  the  bar,  being  stiff  and 
pompous,  he  made  not  such  an  impression  on  the  company  as 
they  expected.  The  appearance  of  self-conceit  always  disgusts 
the  ladies.  He  came  to  Harrogate  during  the  first  days  of  our 
residence  there,  and  stayed  two  nights,  when  Mrs.  Carlyle  had 
some  difficulty  in  getting  him  a  partner. 

It  will  not  be  improper  here  to  state,  that  on  a  future  oc 
casion  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  save  a  man  for  that  time  from 
the  gallows.  There  was  a  man  of  the  name  of  Robertson, 
who  lived  near  Belford,  who  was  accused  of  having  stolen  a 
heifer,  and  killed  it  at  his  own  house.  The  heifer  had  be 
longed  to  a  person  several  miles  distant  from  Belford,  and 
was  killed  and  skinned  before  it  was  seen  by  anybody ;  but 
the  proof  on  its  marks,  and  the  color  of  its  skin,  made  it  very 
like  the  one  amissing.  The  man  had  no  advocate,  and  being 
put  on  the  boards,  was  asked  by  the  judge  (Yates)  if  he 
had  any  defence  to  make.  He  answered,  that  he  was  in  use 
of  going  annually  to  Dunse  fair,  where  he  generally  bought  a 
beast  or  two  for  his  own  use,  and  this  was  one  he  had  got 
there.  The  judge  summed  up  the  evidence  and  charged  the 
jury,  observing  in  his  conclusion,  that  the  only  defence  the 
man  made  was,  that  he  bought  the  heifer  at  Dunse  fair.  Now 
it  having  been  proved  that  this  heifer  was  of  English  breed, 
which  could  not  be  bought  at  Dunse,  that  defence  would  go  for 
nothing.  I  was  amazed  at  the  ignorance  of  the  judge,  and  the 
carelessness  of  the  grand  jury,  and  said  to  Colonel  Dickson  of 
Belford  that  the  judge  had  gone  quite  wrong  in  his  charge. 
He  answered  that  Robertson  was  a  great  rascal,  and  deserved 
to  be  hanged.  I  answered  that  might  be  true,  but  that  he 
ought  not  to  suffer  for  the  ignorance  of  the  judge  or  jury,  for 
he  knew  as  well  as  I  did  that  cattle  of  Northumberland  were 
12 


366  A  GREAT  BORE. 

to  be  bought  at  Dunse  fair  —  nay,  that  half  the  cattle  in  Ber 
wickshire  were  of  that  breed,  so  that  if  he  would  not  explain 
this  to  the  judge,  I  would.  I  at  last  prevailed  with  him  to  go 
round  and  whisper  the  judge,  who,  calling  in  the  jury,  retract 
ed  what  he  had  said.  He  sent  them  out  again,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  they  returned  and  gave  in  their  verdict,  "  Not  guilty." 
I  am  afraid  such  mistakes  must  frequently  happen  in  England, 
in  spite  of  the  perfection  of  their  laws. 

When  we  arrived  at  Harrogate,  the  Dragon  was  not  full, 
and  the  first  person  we  saw  was  the  late  General  Clerk, 
whom,  though  younger  by  at  least  a  year  than  me,  I  had 
known  at  college,  and  had  sometimes  met  when  I  was  last  in 
London.  This  was  a  very  singular  man,  of  a  very  ingenious 
and  active  intellect,  though  he  had  broke  short  in  his  educa 
tion  by  entering  at  an  early  age  into  the  army ;  and  having 
by  nature  a  copious  elocution,  he  threw  out  his  notions,  which 
were  often  new,  with  a  force  and  rapidity  which  stunned  you 
more  than  they  convinced.  He  applied  his  warlike  ideas  to 
colloquial  intercourse,  and  attacked  your  opinions  as  he  would 
do  a  redoubt  or  a  castle,  not  by  sap  and  mine,  but  by  open 
storm.  I  must  confess,  that  of  all  the  men  who  had  so  much 
understanding,  he  was  the  most  disagreeable  person  to  con 
verse  with  whom  I  ever  knew.  The  worst  of  him  was,  that 
he  was  not  contented  with  a  patient  hearing,  nor  even  with 
the  common  marks  of  assentation,  such  as  yes,  or  certainly, 
or  to  be  sure,  or  nodding  the  head,  as  Charles  Townshend, 
and  William  Robertson,  and  other  great  talkers  were ;  you 
must  contradict  him,  and  wrangle  with  him,  or  you  had  no 
peace.  Elibank  had  something  of  the  same  humor,  but  he 
was  better  bred.  Clerk  was  truly  the  greatest  siccatore  in 
the  world.  Like  some  of  the  locusts  that  blast  the  vegetable 
world,  and  shrivel  to  dust  everything  that  is  green,  he  was  of 
the  caterpillar  kind,  who  have  a  particular  species  of  food,  on 


HALL   AM)   SAVAGE  LEE.  3G7 

which  alone  they  fasten,  and  leave  the  rest  untouched.  I  un 
luckily  happened  to  be  the  only  person  of  that  species  at  this 
time  in  the  Dragon  whom  he  knew,  and  he  fastened  on  me 
like  a  leech.  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  I  breakfasted  at  a  table  by 
ourselves,  not  caring  to  join  with  anybody,  as  we  expected 
our  friends  from  Newcastle.  In  vain  I  hinted  this  to  him  as 
an  excuse  for  not  asking  him  to  breakfast.  That,  he  said,  he 
never  did,  as  he  wished  to  be  independent.  On  the  third  day, 
however,  after  our  arrival,  having  been  much  taken  with  Mrs. 
Carlyle's  manner  of  conversing,  and  her  not  being  alarmed  at 
his  paradoxes,  but  only  laughing  at  them,  he  ordered  his  tea- 
table  to  be  set  down  close  by  hers,  and  kept  up  a  noisy  pala 
ver  which  attracted  the  attention  of  the  whole  room ;  and  had 
it  not  been  for  the  lady's  entire  possession  of  herself,  and  her 
being  a  general  favorite  of  the  company  who  were  there, 
might  have  let  loose  the  tongue  of  scandal.  He  told  me  that 
he  expected  Adam  Ferguson  from  Edinburgh  immediately, 
who  was  to  take  the  two  brothers  of  Lord  Grenville,  who 
were  with  Dr.  Robertson  at  Edinburgh,  under  his  care,  and 
that  he  looked  every  day  for  his  arrival.  Ferguson  had  told 
me  this  before,  and  I  now  ardently  wished  for  his  coming. 
In  about  four  or  five  days  Ferguson  came,  and  most  happily 
relieved  me  from  my  post  of  fatigue  ;  for  when  everybody  went 
a  riding  or  walking  in  the  forenoon,  the  first  of  which  he  could 
not  do,  as  he  had  no  horse,  —  would  you  believe  it?  he 
patiently  walked  backwards  and  forwards  within  sight  of  the 
door,  so  that  I  could  not  possibly  escape  him,  and  was  obliged 
to  submit  to  my  destiny,  which  was  to  walk  and  wrangle  with 
him  for  three  hours  together.  About  the  fourth  evening  I  had 
a  little  relief  by  the  arrival  of  two  gentlemen,  whom,  as  we 
met  driving  to  the  inn  in  such  a  carriage  as  mine,  as  we  were 
walking  on  the  heath,  Clerk,  having  stopped  and  spoken  to 
them,  returned  to  me  and  said  that  we  were  now  lucky,  for 


368  FERGUSON  AND  THE  BORE. 

those  were  hands  of  the  first  water.     They  were  Hall, 

Esq.,  the  author  of  Crazy  Tales  ;  and  the  famous  Colonel 
Lee,  commonly  called  Savage  Lee.*  As  Clerk  expected  Fer 
guson,  and  Charles,  and  Robert  Grenville,  we  had  agreed  to 
keep  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the  tables  that  we  might  have  them 
near  us ;  and  he  requested  me  to  remain  in  the  same  position, 
as  the  two  newly-arrived  would  be  glad  to  sit  by  us.  I  ac 
quiesced,  and  found  the  first  a  highly-accomplished  and  well- 
bred  gentleman ;  not  so  the  second,  but  he  might  have  been 
endured  had  it  not  been  for  the  perpetual  jarrings  between 
Clerk  and  him,  which,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  mild  and 
courteous  manner  of  his  companion  Hall,  must  have  ended  in 
a  quarrel ;  for  the  moment  after  the  ladies  rose  from  the  table, 
which  was  very  soon,  the  two  soldiers  fell  a  wrangling  and 
fighting  like  pugilists,  which  made  their  company  very  dis 
agreeable. 

In  a  day  or  two  Ferguson  arrived,  which  effectually  took 
Clerk  off  me,  except  at  our  meal-time,  which  I  could  now 
endure,  as  his  fire  was  divided.  Before  Ferguson  came,  the 
house  began  to  be  crowded,  and  he  was  put  into  a  very  bad 
lodging-room,  near  where  the  fiddlers  slept,  and  very  noisy. 
On  the  third  day  he  was  seized  with  a  fever,  of  which  he  was 
very  impatient,  and  said  it  was  entirely  owing  to  his  bad  room. 
I  brought  Mrs.  Carlyle  to  him,  who  thought  him  very  feverish. 
I  went  to  the  landlady  to  procure  him  a  better  room,  and  when 
Kilrington,  the  M.  D.  from  Ripon,  who  attended  the  house 
daily,  arrived  before  dinner,  I  carried  him  to  him,  who  pre 
scribed  nothing  but  rest  and  sack  whey.  After  two  days 

*  The  Crazy  Tales  were  published  in  1762  anonymously.  They  appear 
(1795)  in  the  collected  works  of  John  Hall  Stevenson,  who  died  in  1785. 
Charles  Lee  was  afterwards  celebrated  as  the  rival  of  Washington  for  the 
command  of  the  American  army.  He  was  one  of  the  reputed  authors  of 
Junius. — ED. 


M'LEOD   OF  THAT  ILK.  369 

more,  Kilrington,  who  saw  him  twice  a  day,  told  me  to  go  to 
him,  for  he  was  better.  I  sat  with  him  a  few  minutes,  and  as 
the  dinner-bell  rang,  I  left  him,  saying  I  would  send  Clerk 
after  dinner.  "  God  forbid,"  said  he,  in  a  voice  of  despair, 
"  as  you  regard  my  life."  This  explosion  left  me  no  room  to 
doubt  what  was  the  true  cause  of  his  fever.  In  two  days 
more  he  was  able  to  join  us. 

Soon  after  this  there  was  a  party  made  out  which  amused 
us  much.  The  Laird  of  M'Leod,  with  his  wife  and  daughter, 
afterwards  Lady  Pringle,  arrived  after  dinner  ;  and  as  we 
were  their  only  acquaintance,  and  they  had  arrived  after  din 
ner,  we  waited  on  them  to  tea  in  their  parlor,  when  they  asked 
us  [to  a  concert]  they  were  to  have  there  an  hour  or  two  later, 
which  was  to  be  private,  but  we  might  bring  one  or  two  of 
our  friends.  "We  attended  accordingly,  and  took  Messrs.  Hall 
and  Lee  and  two  ladies  with  us.  Miss  M'Leod  was  at  this 
time  in  the  prime  of  her  beauty,  and  a  few  months  past  six 
teen.  She  was  truly  very  striking  and  attractive.  When  the 
Savage  saw  her,  he  seemed  astonished  with  her  beauty  ;  when 
she  sang  a  Scottish  song,  he  was  delighted ;  but  when  she 
finished  with  an  Italian  song  of  the  first  order,  he  was  rav 
ished,  and  fell  into  a  silly  amazement,  how  a  young  lady  from 
the  barbarous  coast  of  the  Isle  of  Skye  could  possibly  be  such 
a  mistress  of  the  Italian  music  and  Italian  tongue.  He  spake 
not  another  word  all  that  night  or  the  next  morning,  when  he 
had  several  opportunities  of  drinking  deeper  in  the  Cyprian 
goblet ;  but  when  he  saw  them  preparing  to  leave  us  after 
dinner,  the  conquered  hero  could  not  stand  the  mortifying 
event,  but  retired  from  the  company,  and  was  seen  no  more 
that  night.  The  fit  lasted  for  several  days,  and  he  bore  the 
raillery  of  Hall  and  Clerk  with  a  meekness  which  proved  the 
strength  of  his  passion.  M'Leod  had  only  looked  in  at  Har- 
rogate  to  observe  the  state  of  gaming  there  ;  but  as  he  found 
16*  x 


370  GAYETIES  AT  HARROGATE. 

nothing  higher  than  a  guinea  whist-table,  he  thought  to  stay 
would  be  losing  time,  and  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  a  town 
about  forty  miles  off,  where  there  were  races  to  begin  next 
day. 

Mrs.  Carlyle  had  never  been  at  any  watering-place  before, 
and,  considering  that  she  was  only  twenty-four,  she  conducted 
herself  with  surprising  propriety,  many  proofs  of  which  I 
had,  to  my  great  delight,  —  one  proof  was,  the  great  joy  that 
appeared  when  she  won  the  chief  prize  in  a  lottery  which  was 
drawn  for  the  amusement  of  the  company.  There  was  an 
other  lady  from  the  south,  of  popular  manners,  a  Mrs.  Max- 
wrell,  who  had  the  good  wishes  of  a  few  of  the  ladies  ;  but 
our  party  beat  hers,  both  in  numbers  and  sincere  attachment. 

Our  friends,  the  Blacketts,  had  now  been  for  some  days  at 
Ripon  with  his  mother,  a  fine,  hospitable  old  lady,  the  daugh 
ter  of  Mr.  Wise,  of  the  Priory  at  Warwick.  By  a  message 
they  invited  us  to  dine  there  next  day,  and  desired  us  to  be 
speak  their  lodging,  as  they  were  to  come  to  Harrogate  with 
us.  This  we  accordingly  did,  and  passed  a  very  agreeable 
day  with  the  old  lady  and  our  friends.  She  had  a  fine  haunch 
of  venison  for  us  from  Studley  Park,  besides  many  other 
good  things.  Ripon  is  a  delightful  village  to  live  at,  not 
merely  on  account  of  the  good  provisions  for  the  table,  and  a 
plentiful  country,  but  because  there  is  a  dean  and  chapter,  and 
generally  excellent  musicians.  The  dean  and  prebendary 
are  well  endowed,  and  they  and  their  families  furnish 
good  society.  The  Blacketts  returned  with  us  to  Harro 
gate,  and  we  passed  our  time  very  pleasantly.  On  the  last 
night  Clerk  and  Hall  asked  me  in  the  evening  to  go  to  the 
Queen's  Head  to  see  some  of  our  acquaintance  there,  and  to 
shun  our  own  ball.  We  went  accordingly,  and  met  with  a 
ball  there,  of  which  we  tired,  and,  that  we  might  be  quiet, 
went  to  the  Granby,  where  there  was  no  ball,  and  where 


GAYETIES  AT  HARROGATE.  371 

there  was  excellent  claret.  As  Lee  had  refused  to  come 
abroad  that  evening,  Hall  was  at  liberty,  and  so,  taking  Kil- 
rington  the  doctor  with  us  as  a  fourth  hand,  we  went  there  to 
supper,  when  Hall  and  Clerk  fell  a-debating  so  tediously  and 
so  warmly  about  Lord  Bute's  character  and  fitness  for  the 
place  of  minister,  that  we  did  not  return  to  the  Dragon  till 
six  in  the  morning.  I  was  diverted  to  see  how  Clerk,  who 
generally  took  part  against  Lord  Bute,  that  night  became  his 
zealous  friend,  and  not  only  contended  that  his  being  a 
Scotchman  was  no  bar,  but  that  his  talents  were  equal  to  any 
high  situation.  Hall  allowed  him  private  virtues,  but  no  pub 
lic  ability. 

This  conference  was  very  tiresome,  and  lasted  too  late  for 
me,  who  was  to  set  out  soon  next  morning.  Ferguson's 
young  gentlemen  were  not  yet  arrived,  and  he  remained  a 
week  longer  without  being  able  to  shake  off  his  dear  friend 
Clerk,  who  had  procured  for  him  the  charge  of  those  boys, 
and  who,  through  his  friendship  to  Lady  Warwick,  took  a 
fatherly  charge  of  them. 

Our  company  got  to  York  before  dinner,  where  we  stayed 
most  part  of  next  day,  and  got  to  Newcastle  in  two  days,  and 
in  a  few  days  more  arrived  at  home.  Blackett's  horse  was 
very  heavy,  and  my  tandem  far  outran  them.  "When  we 
came  home,  we  found  our  children  in  perfect  health,  which 
was  a  great  delight  to  us,  and  proved  the  fidelity  of  Jenny's 
nurse,  with  whom  we  had  trusted  them  both. 

Ambassador  Keith  had  returned  home,  and  having  a  hand 
some  pension  settled  on  him,  he  lived  handsomely  for  some 
time  in  Edinburgh,  and  after  a  while  at  Hermitage,  on  Leith 
Links.  He  was  a  man,  though  without  wit  and  humor,  yet 
of  good  sense,  and  much  knowledge  of  the  world.  He  had 
been  absent  from  Scotland  for  twenty-two  years  as  private 
secretary  to  Mareschal  Lord  Stair,  Envoy  at  Holland,  and 


372  THE  LAIEDS  IN  1765. 

Ambassador  at  Vienna  and  Petersburg.  He  complained  that 
the  society  of  Edinburgh  was  altered  much  for  the  worse. 
Most  of  his  old  companions  were  dead.  The  Scottish  lairds 
did  not  now  make  it  a  part  of  their  education  to  pass  two 
years  at  least  abroad,  if  they  had  but  £  300  per  annum,  from 
whence  they  returned  polished  in  their  manners ;  and  that 
portion  of  them  who  had  good  sense,  with  their  minds  en 
larged  and  their  manners  improved.  They  found  themselves 
now  better  employed  in  remaining  at  home,  and  cultivating 
their  fields  ;  but  they  were  less  qualified  for  conversation,  and 
could  talk  of  nothing  but  of  dung  and  of  bullocks.  The  law 
yers  had  contented  themselves  with  studying  law  at  home. 
The  medical  tribe  had  now  the  best  school  of  physic  in  Europe 
established  in  Edinburgh,  and  a  rising  infirmary,  which  prom 
ised  the  students  an  ample  field  of  practice,  so  that  very  few 
of  that  profession  went  now  to  Leyden  or  Paris.  Keith  com 
plained  of  the  dulness  of  the  society,  in  which  he  was  con 
firmed  by  his  son,  afterwards  Sir  Robert  Murray  Keith,  who 
had  come  down  to  stay  for  three  months,  but  returned  by  the 
end  of  one,  not  finding  the  state  of  society  to  his  mind.  The 
Ambassador  had  recourse  to  our  order,  who  had,  till  lately, 
never  been  thought  good  company ;  so  that  finding  Blair  and 
Robertson  and  Jardine  and  myself,  to  whom  he  afterwards 
added  Ferguson,  good  company  for  him,  he  appointed  us  am 
bassador's  chaplains,  and  required  an  attendance  at  least  once 
a  week  to  dinner  at  his  house,  and  was  to  return  our  visits 
when  we  asked  him.  He  was  soon  chosen  a  member  of  the 
Poker  Club,  which  was  entirely  to  his  taste.  Baron  Mure 
and  Lord  Elliock  were  also  much  in  his  society,  especially  the 
first,  who  having  been  intimate  with  Lord  Bute  during  the  ten 
years  he  resided  in  Bute,  previous  to  1745,  was,  after  serving 
in  Parliament  for  some  years  for  Renfrewshire,  promoted  to 
the  place  of  Baron  of  Exchequer.  When  Milton's  infirmities 


DR.  GREGORY.  •    373 

made  him  retire  from  business,  Baron  Mure  was  the  man  who 
was  thought  lit  to  supply  his  place,  after  Lord  Bute's  brother, 
who  tried  it  for  one  season,  but  finding  his  being  sub-minister 
not  agreeable  to  the  country,  and  very  irksome  to  himself,  he 
prudently  declined  it,  when  Mure  became  the  confidential 
man  of  business,  for  which  he  was  perfectly  well  qualified ; 
for  though  his  manner  was  blunt  and  unattractive,  yet  as,  at 
the  same  time,  he  was  unassuming,  of  excellent  understanding 
and  great  ability  for  business,  he  continued  to  be  much  trusted 
and  advised  with  as  long  as  he  lived.*  Elliock  was  an  excel 
lent  scholar,  and  a  man  of  agreeable  conversation,  having 
many  curious  anecdotes  in  his  store  ;  and  to  his  other  fund, 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  well  acquainted  with  Frederick  the 
Great  of  Prussia,  when  he  retired  into  Holland  from  his 
father's  tyranny,  and  visited  him  at  least  once  by  invitation, 
after  he  came  to  the  throne.| 

This  was  the  year,  too,  when  Dr.  John  Gregory,  my  Leyden 
friend,  came  to  settle  in  Edinburgh,  a  widower,  with  three  sons 
and  three  daughters.  J  He  soon  came  to  be  perfectly  known 
here,  and  got  into  very  good  business.  Dr.  Rutherford,  Pro 
fessor  of  the  Practice  of  Physic,  beginning  to  fail,  and  being 
afraid  of  Cullen  becoming  his  successor,  whom  he  held  to  be 
an  heretic,  he  readily  entered  into  a  compact  with  Gregory, 
whom  he  esteemed  orthodox  in  the  medical  faith,  and  resigned 
his  class  to  him.  In  a  year  or  two  that  doctor  died,  when 
Cullen  and  Gregory,  agreeable  to  previous  settlement,  taught 

*  William  Mure  of  Caldwell,  Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  held  a  high  social 
place  among  the  men  of  letters  of  that  day  in  Scotland ;  he  was  the  intimate 
friend  and  the  correspondent  of  David  Hume.  His  correspondence  is  con 
tained  in  "  the  Caldwell  Papers,"  edited  for  the  Bannatyne  Club  by  his 
descendant,  the  late  distinguished  scholar  and  author,  Colonel  Mure.  —  ED. 

f  James  Veitch,  advocate,  was  raised  to  the  bench  in  1760,  when  he  took 
the  title  of  Lord  Elliock.  He  enjoyed  a  reputation  in  his  day,  from  the  cir 
cumstance,  alluded  to  in  the  text,  of  Frederick  -the  Great  having  taken  a 
fancy  to  him,  and  conferred  on  him  the  rank  of  Correspondent.  —  ED. 

J  See  above,  p.  146. 


374  MRS.  MONTAGUE. 

the  two  classes  the  theory  and  practice  by  turns,  changing 
every  session.  I  got  Gregory  elected  into  the  Poker,  but 
though  very  desirous  at  first,  yet  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  it, 
but  desisted  after  twice  attending,  afraid,  I  suppose  of  disgust 
ing  some  of  the  ladies  he  paid  court  to  by  falling  in  sometimes 
there  with  David  Hume,  whom  they  did  not  know  for  the  in 
nocent  good  soul  which  he  really  was.  Professor  Ferguson 
told  me  not  long  ago  that  he  was  present  the  second  time  Dr. 
Gregory  attended  the  Poker,  when,  enlarging  on  his  favorite 
topic,  the  superiority  of  the  female  sex,  he  was  so  laughed  at 
and  run  down  that  he  never  returned. 

Gregory  had  met  with  Old  Montague  at  the  Royal  Society 
in  London,  who  was  fond  of  all  mathematicians,  and  had  made 
himself  master  of  his  mind.  Montague  introduced  him  to  his 
wife,  a  fine  woman,  who  was  a  candidate  for  glory  in  every 
branch  of  literature  but  that  of  her  husband,  and  its  connec 
tions  and  dependencies.  She  was  a  faded  beauty,  a  wit,  a 
critic,  an  author  of  some  fame,  and  a  friend  and  coadjutor  of 
Lord  Littleton.  She  had  some  parts  and  knowledge,  and 
might  have  been  admired  by  the  first  order  of  minds,  had 
she  not  been  greedy  of  more  praise  than  she  was  entitled  to. 
She  came  here  for  a  fortnight,  from  her  residence  near  New 
castle,  to  visit  Gregory,  who  took  care  to  show  her  off;  but 
she  did  not  take  here,  for  she  despised  the  women,  and  disgust 
ed  the  men  with  her  affectation.  Old  Edinburgh  was  not  a 
climate  for  the  success  of  impostures.  Lord  Kames,  who  was 
at  first  catched  with  her  Parnassian  coquetry,  said  at  last  that 
he  believed  she  had  as  much  learning  as  a  well-educated  col 
lege  lad  here  of  sixteen.  I  could  have  forgiven  her  for  her 
pretensions  to  literary  fame,  had  she  not  loudly  put  in  her 
claim  to  the  praise  and  true  devotion  of  the  heart,  which  be 
longs  to  genuine  feelings  and  deeds,  in  which  she  was  remark 
ably  deficient.  We  saw  her  often  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Newcastle,  and  in  that  town,  where  there  was  no  audience  for 


FATHER'S  DEATH.  375 

such  an  actress  as  she  was,  her  natural  character  was  dis 
played,  which  was  that  of  an  active  manager  of  her  affairs,  a 
crafty  chaperon,  and  a  keen  pursuer  of  her  interest,  not  to  be 
outdone  by  the  sharpest  coal-dealer  on  Tyne  ;  but  in  this  capa 
city  she  was  not  displeasing,  for  she  was  not  acting  a  part. 
Mrs.  Montague  was  highly  delighted  with  "  Sister  Peg," 
which  Ferguson  had  written,  and  congratulated  Mrs.  Carlyle 
on  having  a  husband  whose  conversation  must  be  a  constant 
source  of  entertainment.  She  did  not  advert  to  it,  that  in  do 
mestic  life  the  scene  did  not  always  lie  in  the  drawing-room. 

We  had  a  sight  of  the  celebrated  poet  Gray  at  Dr.  Greg 
ory's,  who  passing  through  Edinburgh  to  the  Highlands  with 
my  friend  Major  Lyon  for  his  conductor,  six  or  seven  of  us 
assembled  to  meet  him,  and  were  disappointed.  But  this 
eminent  poet  had  not  justice  done  him,  for  he  was  much  worn 
out  with  his  journey,  and,  by  retiring  soon  after  supper,  proved 
that  he  had  been  taken  at  a  time  when  he  was  not  fit  to  be 
shown  off. 

(1765.)  —  Early  in  March  this  year  I  lost  my  worthy  father, 
at  seventy -five  years  of  age.  He  had  been  for  some  years  de 
clining,  and  of  late  had  strong  symptoms  of  dropsy,  a  disease 
of  worn-out  constitutions ;  for  though  seemingly  robust  and  very 
active,  he  had  been  afflicted  all  his  life  with  sundry  disorders 
of  an  alarming  nature,  such  as  an  universal  rheumatism,  and 
spasms  in  his  stomach  at  regular  hours  every  night  for  three 
months  together.  He  died  with  the  utmost  calmness  and  res 
ignation,  and  ordered  all  his  affairs  with  a  prudence  and  fore 
sight  that  were  surprising,  amidst  frequent  effusions  of  the  most 
fervent  piety.  Though  long  expected,  I  felt  this  a  severe  blow, 
as  every  man  of  common  feelings  must  do,  —  the  loss  of  a 
respectable  parent.  The  sincere  grief  of  his  parish,  and  the 
unaffected  regret  of  all  who  knew  him,  raised  pleasing  sensa 
tions  in  the  minds  of  his  family.  I  had  withdrawn  my  wife 
-om  this  afflicting  scene,  by  letting  her  yield  to  the  importu- 


37G  THE  PATRONAGE  QUESTION. 

nity  of  her  sister,  and  go  to  Newcastle  in  the  beginning  of 
March.  This  ascendance  which  her  sister  had  on  her  affec 
tions  accounted  perfectly  for  our  not  growing  rich,  as  some  of 
our  free-judging  neighbors  alleged  we  must  certainly  be  doing ; 
for  though  our  income  was  tolerable,  yet  these  frequent  visits 
to  the  south  —  not  less  than  twice  in  a  year  —  put  it  only  in 
our  power  to  pay  our  accounts  at  the  end  of  the  year.  I  went 
to  Newcastle  before  the  end  of  April  to  bring  my  wife  home, 
on  which  or  some  such  occasion  we  brought  with  us  Dr.  Greg 
ory's  two  daughters,  Dolly  and  Anne,  very  fine  girls,  who  had 
been  staying  with  Mrs.  Montague.  As  there  were  none  of  rny 
father's  family  now  alive  but  my  sister  Nell,  who  was  the 
youngest,  and  Sarah,  who  was  one  or  two  years  older,  and 
unmarried,  my  father  had  the  satisfaction  that  my  mother 
would  be  independent,  but  advised  her  to  come  close  to  me, 
which  she  did  at  the  Michaelmas  term. 

Lord  Prestongrange,  the  patron  of  the  parish,  who  was  my 
father's  friend  and  old  companion  at  college,  was  generous  to 
my  mother,  by  giving  her  a  grant  of  the  glebe,  which  was 
partly  sown,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  vacant  stipend, 
to  which  she  was  not  entitled.  The  two  next  successors  to 
my  father  died  in  four  years,  so  that  his  place  was  not  well 
filled  up,  nor  the  regret  of  the  parishioners  lessened  for  his 
loss,  till  Dr.  Joseph  M'Cormick  succeeded  in  1768  or  '69. 

In  the  General  Assembly  this  year  there  was  a  strong  push 
made  to  bring  in  an  overture  to  all  the  presbyteries  of  the 
Church  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  schism,  &c.,  from  whence 
those  in  opposition  to  patronages  believed  there  would  come 
such  a  report  as  would  found  and  justify  a  fresh  application  to 
the  Legislature  for  their  abolition.  It  was  thought  best  on 
our  side  not  directly  to  oppose  this  motion,  but  to  propose  a 
committee  of  Assembly  rather  than  agree  to  the  transmission, 
which  was  agreed  to,  and  a  large  committee  appointed,  who, 
strange  to  tell,  in  spite  of  all  their  zeal,  met  only  once,  and 


A  TOUR.  377 

did  nothing,  though  they  had  full  power,  and  made  no  report 
to  next  Assembly.* 

It  was  in  the  months  of  August  and  September  this  year 
that  Dr.  Wight  and  I  made  our  tour  round  the  north,  where 
neither  of  us  had  ever  been,  from  whence  we  derived  much 
amusement  and  satisfaction.  We  went  on  horseback  by 
Queensferry,  Perth,  Dundee,  Arbroath,  &c.  We  stayed 
four  days  and  nights  at  Aberdeen  on  account  of  Dr.  Wight's 
horse  having  been  lamed  in  crossing  the  ferry  at  Montrose ; 
but  we  passed  our  time  very  agreeably  between  the  houses 
of  our  friends  Drs.  Campbell  and  Gerard. 

When  I  returned  —  for  Wight  went  to  Dumfries  from  Ed 
inburgh  —  I  found  the  children  well,  but  their  mother  suffer 
ing  from  a  very  severe  rheumatism  in  her  teeth,  owing  to 
their  being  cleaned  too  much.  A  fresh  call  from  Newcastle 
carried  Mrs.  Carlyle  there  again  in  the  beginning  of  Novem 
ber.  I  did  not  go  with  her,  but  went  for  her  at  the  end  of 
the  year,  and  carried  a  Miss  Wilkie  with  me  from  Ingram'.s, 
and  a  Rev.  Mr.  Forbes,  who  married  a  grand-aunt  of  Mrs. 
Carlyle's. 

(1766.)  — I  have  not  mentioned  some  visits  we  had  from 
our  friends  in  Newcastle,  nor  do  I  exactly  [remember]  the 
dates  of  their  coming.  He  soon  tired,  and  had  always  busi 
ness  to  carry  him  back.  Not  so  his  lady,  who  loved  our  soci 
ety  better  than  that  of  Newcastle.  In  April  I  made  a  tour 

*  The  reader  will  recognize  in  these  and  subsequent  passages  some  inter 
esting  incidents  of  the  great  contest,  which,  beginning  with  the  Patronage 
Act  of  1710,  threw  off  two  dissenting  bodies  —  the  Secession  and  the  Relief 
—  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  ended  in  the  construction  of  the  Free 
Church  in  1843.  The  nature  of  the  proceedings  will  be  understood  by  keep 
ing  in  view  that  the  "overture,"  or  opening  of  a  measure  (a  term  taken  by 
the  Parliament  of  Scotland  from  French  practice),  required,  in  conformity 
with  one  of  the  fundamental  regulations  of  ecclesiastical  procedure  in  Scot 
land,  called  the  "  Barrier  Act,"  to  be  transmitted  to  the  local  presbyteries 
for  adoption  by  a  majority  before  being  passed  and  carried  into  effect  by  the 
General  Assembly.  —  ED. 


378  THE  PATKONAGE  QUESTION. 

with  Mary  to  Berwick,  Langton,  and  Fogo,  for  her  health, 
and  to  visit  our  friends. 

John  Home  was  now  always  in  London  from  October  till 
May,  when  Lord  Bute  parted  with  him,  for  most  part  to 
come  to  the  General  Assembly,  as,  being  Lord  Conservator, 
he  was  now  a  constant  member,  and,  though  no  great  debater, 
gave  us  a  speech  now  and  then. 

In  the  Assembly  this  year  there  was  the  last  grand  effort 
of  our  opponents  to  carry  through  their  Schism  Overture,  as 
it  was  called,  as  it  proposed  to  make  an  inquiry  into  the 
causes  and  growth  of  schism.  On  the  day  before  it  came  be 
fore  the  Assembly  we  had  dined  at  Nicholson's.  Before  we 
parted,  Jardine  told  me  that  he  had  examined  the  list  of  the 
Assembly  with  care,  and  that  we  should  carry  the  question  — 
that  it  would  be  nearly  at  par  till  we  came  as  far  on  the  roll 
as  Lochmaben,  but  that  after  that  we  should  have  it  hollow. 
I  have  mentioned  this  on  account  of  what  happened  next  day, 
which  was  Friday  the  29th. 

There  was  a  very  long  debate,  so  that  the  vote  was  not 
called  till  past  .  seven  o'clock.  Jardine,  who  had  for  some 
time  complained  of  breathlessness,  had  seated  himself  on  a 
high  bench  near  the  east  door  of  the  Assembly  House,  there 
being  at  that  time  no  galleries  erected.  Pie  had,  not  half  an 
hour  before,  had  a  communication  with  some  ladies  near  him 
in  the  church  gallery,  who  had  sent  him  a  bottle  of  wine,  of 
which  he  took  one  glass.  The  calling  of  the  roll  began,  and 
when  it  had  passed  the  presbytery  of  Lochmaben,  he  gave  a 
significant  look  with  his  eye  to  me,  who  was  sitting  below  the 
throne,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Now  the  day 's  our  own."  I  had 
turned  to  the  left  to  whisper  to  John  Home,  who  was  next 
me,  the  sign  I  had  got ;  before  I  could  look  round  again,  Jar- 
dine  had  tumbled  from  his  seat,  and,  being  a  man  of  six  feet 
two  inches,  and  of  large  bones,  had  borne  down  all  those 
on  the  two  benches  below7  him,  and  fallen  to  the  ground. 


JARDINE'S  DEATH.  379 

He  was  immediately  carried  out  to  the  passage,  and  the  roll- 
calling  stopped.  Various  reports  "came  from  the  door,  but, 
anxious  to  know  the  truth,  I  stepped  behind  the  Moderator's 
chair  and  over  the  green  table,  and  with  difficulty  made  the 
door  through  a  very  crowded  house.  When  I  came  there,  I 
found  him  lying  stretched  on  the  pavement  of  the  passage 
with  many  people  about  him,  among  the  rest  his  friend  and 
mine,  James  Russel  the  surgeon.  With  some  difficulty  I  got 
near  him,  and  whispered  was  it  not  a  faint  ?  "  No,  no,"  re 
plied  he,  "  it  is  all  over."  I  returned  to  the  house,  and, 
resuming  my  place,  gave  out  that  there  was  hopes  of  his 
recovery.  This  composed  the  house,  and  the  calling  of  the 
roll  went  on,  when  it  was  carried  to  reject  the  overture  by  a 
great  majority.  This  was  a  deadly  blow  to  the  enemies  of 
presentations,  for  they  had  mustered  all  their  strength,  and 
had  been  strenuous  in  debate.  Henry  Dundas,  however,  had 
now  come  to  our  aid,  who  was  himself  a  match  for  all  their 
lay  forces,  as  Robertson  and  a  few  friends  were  for  all  the 
bands  of  clergy.  I  was  not  a  member.  A  party  of  us  had 
been  engaged  to  dine  with  Mr.  Dundas,  but  could  not  now 
go,  as  Dr.  Jardine  was  a  near  relation  of  his  lady,  who  was 
delivered  of  her  first  child  that  night. 

Robertson  was  much  dejected,  as  he  had  good  reason.  I 
immediately  proposed  to  him  and  J.  Home  to  send  for  a  post- 
chaise  and  carry  them  out  to  Musselburgh,  which  was  done 
directly,  and  which  relieved  us  from  all  troublesome  company. 
This  death  of  Jardine  was  not  only  a  breach  in  our  society 
which  we  long  felt,  as  John  Jardine  was  one  of  the  pleasant- 
est  of  the  whole,  who  played  delightfully  on  the  unbounded 
curiosity  and  dupish  simplicity  of  David  Hume,  but  was  a 
great  support  to  Robertson  and  our  friends  in  the  manage 
ment  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  as  he  was  the  son-in-law  of  Pro 
vost  Drummond,  and  kept  him  steady,  who  had  been  bred  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Highflyers.  And  having  had  the  manage- 


380  JARDINE'S  I/EATH. 

ment  of  the  burgh  of  Lochmaben  for  Charles  Erskine  of  Tin- 
wald  at  twenty-nine  years  of  age,  he  acquired  early  that  address 
and  dexterity  in  managing  men  which  could  easily  be  applied 
to  Edinburgh  politics,  though  they  were  on  a  much  greater 
scale.  In  politics  he  was  artful,  in  other  affairs  quite  trusty.* 

As  Jardine,  however,  had  one  third  of  the  deanery,  Robert 
son  availed  himself  of  the  vacancy  to  obtain  it  for  Dr.  Drys- 
dale,  whose  wife  was  one  of  the  Adams'  and  Robertsons' 
cousin-german.  This  attached  Drysdale  more  to  him,  and 
made  him  apply  assiduously  to  the  correspondence  with  the 
distant  clergy,  which  opened  up  to  him  a  view  of  the  clerkship 
of  the  Church  which  he  afterwards  obtained. 

I  said  that  the  Schism  Overture  which  we  defeated  was 
the  last  blow  that  was  aimed  at  patronage,  for  whatever 
attempts  wTere  afterwards  made  were  feeble  and  ineffective. 
There  still  remained,  however,  in  the  Assembly's  instruc 
tions  to  their  Commission,  an  article  which  was  a  constant 
reproach  to  the  General  Assembly :  viz.  That  they  should 
watch  for  a  convenient  opportunity  of  applying  to  the  King 
and  Parliament  for  redress  from  the  grievance  of  patronage. 
This  was  too  much,  at  a  time  when  almost  every  clerical 
member  of  Assembly  had  been  settled  by  a  presentation. 
This,  however,  was  not  left  out  till  Dr.  Robertson  had  re 
tired  from  the  conduct  of  our  affairs,  when,  in  the  Assem 
bly  1784,  I  got  it  proposed  by  some  of  the  elders,  when, 
after  some  debate,  it  was  carried  to  leave  it  out  by  a  great 
majority.  Next  year  there  was  a  feeble  attempt  to  restore 
the  article  in  the  Instructions,  but  this  did  not  even  raise  a 
debate,  and  we  heard  no  more  of  it. 

*  Dr.  John  Jardine,  minister  of  the  Tron  Church  parish,  was  born  in 
Dumfriesshire  in  1716.  He  was  an  active  leader  in  the  church  courts,  and 
intimate  with  the  great  literary  circle  of  Edinburgh;  but  the  only  things 
he  is  known  to  have  written  are  contributions  to  the  short-lived  Edinburgh 
Review,  commenced  in  1755.  —  ED. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

1766-1768:    AGE,  44-46. 

VISIT  TO  LORD  GLASGOW  WITH  ROBERTSON.  —  CONVIVIALITIES.  —  SYNOD 
BUSINESS.  —  DR.  ARMSTRONG.  —  AN  EXCURSION  TO  TWEEDDALE  AND 
ACROSS  THE  BORDER.  —  ADVENTURES  IN  CARLISLE.  —  THE  DUKE  OF 
BUCCLEUCH  AND  FESTIVITIES  AT  DALKEITH.  —  ADAM  SMITH  THERE. 
—  PROFESSOR  MILLAR  OF  GLASGOW. 

IT  was  this  year,  in  the  month  of  August,  that  Dr.  Robert 
son  having  solicited  me  strongly  to  be  of  a  party  to  the  west 
country  with  him  and  the  Honorable  James  Stewart  Mon 
tague,  who  was  then  attending  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  and 
lived  in  his  house,  I  could  not  set  out  on  the  same  day  with 
them,  but  followed  in  the  end  of  the  week,  and  got  to  Dr. 
Wight's,  at  Glasgow  College,  on  Saturday,  where  I  remained 
all  next  day,  having  got  a  little  cold.  He  had  now  been  for 
some  time  in  the  house  allotted  to  his  office,  which,  though  one 
of  the  old  ones,  was  convenient,  and  had  several  apartments, 
so  that  he  could  have  room  for  two  or  three  boarders.  His 
youngest  sister  had  now  been  with  him  for  more  than  a  year, 
and  they  lived  very  comfortably,  which  she,  though  but  just 
turned  of  twenty,  managed  very.  well.  I  remained  with  them 
all  Tuesday,  and  next  day  got  to  Caldwell  (Baron  Mure's) 
before  dinner.  We  went  next  day  to  Lord  Glasgow's,  where 
we  were  joined  by  Mr.  Oliphant,  afterwards  Postmaster,  who, 
with  Baron  Mure  and  Alexander  M'Millan,  Esq.,  W.  S.,  were 
Lord  Bute's  commissioners  or  trustees  for  the  management  of 


382  LORD   GLASGOW. 

his  estate.  We  had  rode  through  a  very  hilly  part  of  Ren 
frewshire  to  Kelburn,  Lord  Glasgow's  seat,  finely  situated  on 
the  Clyde,  almost  opposite  to  Bute,  about  five  or  six  miles  dis 
tant,  where  the  expanse  of  water  is  finely  broken  by  the  two 
islands  of  Cumbray,  the  first  of  which  is  not  more  than  a  mile 
distant,  while  the  channel  for  ships  sailing  up  or  down  the 
Clyde  lies  between  that  island  and  the  shore  of  Cunningham. 
We  were  very  late  of  dining  for  that  period,  when  the  usual 
hour  was  two  o'clock,  but  we  sat  long  enough  after  dinner  to 
loosen  our  landlord's  tongue,  who,  being  in  general  a  reserved 
and  silent  man,  partly  through  modesty  and  partly  through 
flat  spirits,  yet,  after  a  long  repast,  became  not  only  open  and 
free,  but  truly  eloquent.  Baron  Mure,  though  a  very  sensible 
man,  was  yet  too  great  a  friend  of  Lord  Bute's  to  hear  Wil 
liam  Pitt  extolled  to  the  skies,  which  Lord  Glasgow  had  casu 
ally  done ;  on  which  Mure  made  some  tart  remarks.  This 
fired  his  Lordship,  who  gave  us  a  panegyric  at  last  on  Mr. 
Pitt's  character  and  administration,  with  as  much  force,  en 
ergy,  and  eloquence  as  that  great  man  himself  could  have 
done,  had  he  dealt  in  panegyric.  His  Lordship  was  beginning 
to  flag,  and  his  audience  to  tire,  when  luckily  we  were  called 
to  supper.  Robertson  whispered  me,  in  going  to  the  dining- 
room,  that  his  powers  had  perfectly  astonished  him.  The 
presence  of  the  ladies  put  an  end  to  our  political  debate.  We 
passed  next  day  with  his  Lordship,  when  we  had  such  another 
exhibition  in  the  evening.  We  agreed  among  ourselves,  that 
had  it  not  been  for  his  invincible  modesty,  which  debarred  him 
from  ever  entering  the  drawing-room  at  St.  James's,  where  he 
was  sure  of  a  good  reception,  for  he  had  been  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Fontenoy,  he  might  have  made  a  very  conspicuous 
appearance  in  the  House  of  Lords.  He  was  now  the  Lord 
High  Commissioner  to  the  Assembly,  and  was  a  great  favorite 
with  us,  not  merely  for  his  obliging  manners  and  improved 


LOED   GLASGOW.  383 

entertainment  at  his  table,  but  for  his  attention  to  the  business 
of  the  house,  and  his  listening  to  and  entering  into  the  spirit 
of  every  debate.  His  Lordship  did  not  attend  us  to  Bute,  to 
which  we  sailed  next  day.* 

We  remained  six  days  in  Bute,  and  passed  our  time  very 
agreeably.  Alexander  M'Millan  was  one  of  the  best  land 
lords  for  a  large  company,  for  he  was  loud  and  joyful,  and 
made  the  wine  flow  like  Bacchus  himself.  We  passed  the 
mornings  (which  were  not  so  long  as  now,  for  they  extended 
only  to  two  o'clock,  when  dinner  was  on  the  table)  in  rid'ng 
about  the  island,  which  we  found  very  beautiful,  though  but 
little  cultivated  ;  for  besides  a  plantation  around  the  house  of 
Mount  Stuart,  of  very  fine  trees,  of  a  square  mile,  every  little 
cottage  had  a  dozen  of  trees  around  it.  A  Lady  Bute,  while 
a  widow,  had  got  them  planted  in  every  kailyard,  as  their 
little  gardens  are  called,  and  they  make  a  pleasing  ornament. 
There  is  nothing  like  a  hill  but  on  Lord '  Bannatyne's  estate 
on  the  northeast,  where  it  is  separated  by  a  narrow  strait  called 
the  Kyles  of  Bute.  Rothesay,  where  stand  the  ruins  of  the 
old  castle  which  gives  a  ducal  title  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  as 
it  did  anciently  to  the  Prince  of  Scotland,  is  a  finely  situated 
port,  and  has  thriven  amazingly  since  that  period.  We  had 
to  take  an  early  dinner  one  day,  and  ride  down  there  to  be 
made  free  of  the  burgh,  which  cost  us  a  hard  drink  of  new 
claret.  Mount  Stuart  is  truly  a  fine  place,  with  a  charming 
view  of  the  islands  and  opposite  coast.  The  soil  everywhere 
lies  on  sea-shells,  so  that  they  have  the  means  of  improve 
ment  at  hand  ;  and  being  in  shape  like  the  convex  of  a  Roman 
shield,  where  the  rain  cannot  lie,  seemed  everywhere  capable 
of  tillage.  What  was  done  about  Mount  Stuart  and  Rothesay 
gave  great  encouragement.  We  went  to  Kingarth  Church  on 

*  John  Bovle,  third  Earl  of  Glasgow,  of  whom  what  was  heretofore 
known  is  so  scanty  as  to  give  much  value  to  this  sketch.  —  ED. 


£34  CONVIVIALITIES  IN  BUTE. 

Sunday,  where  I  lectured  and  Robertson  preached.  There 
are  three  parishes  in  the  island,  in  two  of  which  the  ministers 
must  have  the  Erse  language. 

Our  conversation  at  table  was  liberal  and  lively,  as  might 
be  expected  where  there  were  so  many  sensible  men  ;  for 
besides  our  company  there  were  several  other  very  able  men, 
particularly  a  Mr.  Dunlop,  a  son  of  the  Greek  Professor's,  at 
Glasgow,  who  was  remarkably  knowing  and  good-humored. 
The  wine  was  excellent,  and  flowed  freely.  There  was  the 
best  Cyprus  I  ever  saw,  which  had  lain  there  since  Lord  Bute 
had  left  the  island  in  1745.  The  claret  was  of  the  same 
age,  and  excellent. 

After  we  had  been  four  days  there,  Robertson  took  me  into 
a  window  before  dinner,  and  with  some  solemnity  proposed  to 
make  a  motion  to  shorten  the  drinking,  if  I  would  second  him 
—  "  Because,"  added  he,  "  although  you  and  I  may  go  through 
it,  I  am  averse  to  it  on  James  Stuart's  account."  I  answered 
that  I  would  willingly  second  whatever  measure  of  that  kind 
he  should  propose,  but  added  that  I  was  afraid  it  would  not 
do,  as  our  toastmaster  was  very  despotic,  and,  besides,  might 
throw  ridicule  upon  us,  as  we  were  to  leave  the  island  the  day 
after  the  next,  and  that  we  had  not  proposed  any  abridgment 
to  the  repast  till  the  old  claret  was  all  done,  the  last  of  which 
we  had  drunk  yesterday.  "  Well,  well,"  replied  the  Doctor, 
"  be  it  so  then,  and  let  us  end  as  we  began." 

We  left  the  island  on  the  day  we  proposed,  I  in  a  boat,  for 
Port-Glasgow,  with  the  Postmaster,  Oliphant,  as  we  could  not 
join  the  rest  to  pass  two  days  more  at  Lord  Glasgow's  (Kel- 
burn)  on  their  return,  as  they  had  promised.  We  got  very 
rapidly  to  Port- Glasgow  in  the  custom-house  yacht,  and  to 
Glasgow  on  horseback  early  in  the  evening,  where  he  visited 
his  friends,  and  I  remained  with  mine  at  the  College  that 
night  and  all  next  day. 


THE  SCOTS.  —  AKENSIDE  THE  POET.  385 

I  was  Moderator  of  the  Synod  this  year.  Webster  having 
made  it  fashionable  for  even  the  Moderators  of  that  court  to 
give  handsome  suppers,  it  cost  me  five  guineas  ;  but  there 
being  very  few  who  could  afford  such  expensive  repasts,  after 
having  gone  through  six  or  seven  of  us,  this  entertainment 
ceased,  and  the  Moderators  of  the  Synods  were  contented 
with  small  committees  and  meagre  suppers,  as  they  had  been 
heretofore,  and  Webster,  of  course,  absented  from  them. 

In  December  this  year  we  made  another  journey  to  New 
castle,  Mrs.  Carlyle  being  absolutely  necessary  to  her  sister 
when  she  lay  in,  or  was  at  all  ill.  Blackett  was  but  a  dull 
man,  and  his  cousin,  Sir  Walter  B.,  no  better,  though  rich, 
magnificent,  and  generous.  The  company  about  them  were 
not  very  agreeable  ;  some  of  their  bucks  had  humor,  but  they 
were  illiterate  and  noisy.  Two  or  three  of  their  clergy  could 
be  endured,  for  they  played  well  at  cards,  and  were  not 
pedantic.  John  Withrington  was  then  almost  the  only  man 
who  had  any  literature.  Mr.  Moyse,  a  clergyman,  was  now 
a  master  of  the  grammar-school,  and  being  able  and  diligent 
in  his  profession,  soon  made  a  great  change  on  the  young 
natives  of  Newcastle ;  insomuch,  that  soon  after  there  issued 
from  it  several  distinguished  characters,  such  as  Mr.  Cham 
bers,  a  judge,  I  think,  in  India,  or  a  professor  of  law  at 
Oxford ;  and  the  two  Scotts,  Sir  William  and  his  younger 
brother,  the  Chancellor  of  England.*  Dr.  Akenside  was  also 
a  native  of  that  town,  and  had  studied  physic  in  Edinburgh  in 
the  years  1744-5.  As  he  was  of  low  descent,  his  father  being 
a  butcher,  he  stole  through  his  native  town  incog,  as  often  as 
he  had  occasion  to  pass,  and  never  acknowledged  his  relation 
to  it. 

(1767.)  — This  year  nothing  remarkable  happened  for  sev 
eral  months.     In  the  month  [of  August],  Mrs.  Carlyle  not 
*  Viz.  Lord  Stowell  and  Lord  Eldon.  —  ED. 

17  Y 


386  TOUR  ON  THE  BORDER. 

being  very  well,  we  went  in  our  open  chaise  to  visit  our 
friend  Mr.  Alexander  Glen,  at  Galashiels,  with  our  friend 
Dr.  Wight.  I  had  been  there  before,  but  Mrs.  Carlyle  never 
had,  and  was  much  delighted  with  the  amenity  of  the  place,  as 
well  as  the  kindness  and  hospitality  of  our  landlord,  who  was 
not  yet  married.  We  visited  Melrose  Abbey  to  gratify  Mrs. 
Carlyle.  The  fine  pastoral  stream  of  Gala  falls  into  the 
Tweed  a  mile  below  the  church  and  village,  from  whence 
four  miles  down  the  river  stands  the  famous  abbey  of  Mel- 
rose,  the  exquisite  beauty  of  whose  ruins  is  well  supported 
by  the  romantic  scenery  around  it.  About  a  week  before 
we  arrived  here,  a  waterspout  had  fallen  into  the  mountain 
stream  Slitterick,  which  joins  the  river  Teviot  at  Hawick, 
which  occasioned  a  great  alarm  there  ;  had  broken  down  a 
bridge  which  joined  the  town  to  a  street  where  the  church 
stands ;  had  ruined  a  mill  on  the  rivulet,  and  drowned  one 
of  the  millers,  and  threatened  the  whole  town  with  inun 
dation  ;  but  as  it  had  come  down  in  the  night,  it  abated  early 
in  the  forenoon. 

This  phenomenon,  so  uncommon  in  this  country,  excited 
our  curiosity,  and  we  resolved  to  proceed  to  Hawick  to  see 
the  effects  of  it.  Mr.  Glen  gladly  accompanied  us,  Wight 
and  he  being  great  companions. 

We  set  out  in  the  morning,  after  an  early  breakfast,  that 
we  might  reach  Hawick  some  time  before  dinner.  We  had 
given  notice  to  Laurie,  the  minister  there,  that  we  would  dine 
with  him  and  stay  all  night ;  which  information  was  neces 
sary,  as  there  were  so  many  of  us,  although  the  fashion  of 
men's  sleeping  in  the  same  bed  together  was  not  yet  at  an 
end.  After  we  passed  the  Tweed,  near  Selkirk,  where  the 
delightful  streams  of  Ettrick  and  Yarrow  fall  into  it  from  the 
fine  pastoral  valleys  or  glens  which  run  parallel  to  each  other 
to  the  summit  of  the  country,  the  scenery  was  by  no  means 


A  CHARACTER.  —  ARMSTRONG  THE  POET.     387 

interesting.  Selkirk  was  then  a  very  paltry  town,  and  the 
fields  around  it  very  poorly  cultivated,  though  now  there  is  a 
very  different  face  on  both.  Hawick  is  beautifully  situated, 
and,  though  but  an  ill-built  town,  very  much  resembles  the 
famous  city  of  Bath  in  its  situation,  being  a  close,  warm- 
looking  nest  in  the  midst  of  surrounding  hills,  all  but  the 
openings  made  to  the  south  and  north  of  the  town  by  the 
beautiful  river  Teviot,  which  runs  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
of  it,  and  whose  clear  untroubled  stream,  except  when  great 
rains  descend,  glides  gently  by,  and  like  a  mirror  reflects 
the  adjacent  pastoral  scenery.  We  visited  the  devastations 
made  by  Slitterick,  which  falls  from  the  mountain  in  a  tre 
mendous  torrent  into  Teviot,  which  was  quite  unmoved,  as 
the  two  channels  lay  at  right  angles  from  each  other. 

We  passed  the  day  very  pleasantly  with  Laurie  and  his 
wife,  who  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Carlyle's  when 
they  lived  at  Lanton,  the  next  parish  to  Polwarth,  where  she 
passed  her  infant  years.  Wight  rallied  Laurie  not  a  little  for 
his  having  delayed  calling  the  people  to  prayers  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  inundation,  till  he  saw  from  his  garden  the  flood  a 
little  abating  ;  and  then  continuing  so  long  in  prayer  (for  a 
full  hour),  when  it  had  fallen  so  much  that  a  man  on  horse 
back  could  pass  below  the  mill,  which  the  good  people  ascribed 
to  the  fervency  of  their  pastor,  and  would  have  continued  to 
believe  in  the  efficacy  of  his  prayer,  had  not  the  surviving 
miller  assured  them  that  the  inundation  had  fallen  six  inches 
before  the  church-bell  rang.  Laurie  was  perfectly  pleased 
with  so  much  address  being  ascribed  to  him,  though  he  lost  a 
little  in  the  article  of  interest  in  heaven  which  was  imputed  to 
him. 

Laurie  was  an  uncommon  character.  Dr.  John  Armstrong 
and  he  were  at  college  together,  and  one  year,  during  the  va 
cation,  they  joined  a  band  of  gypsies,  who  in  those  days  much 


388  TOUR   ON  THE  BORDER. 

infested  the  Border.  This  expedition,  which  really  took  place, 
as  Armstrong  informed  me  in  London,  furnished  Laurie  with 
a  fine  field  for  fiction  and  rodomontade,  which  was  so  closely 
united  to  the  groundwork,  which  might  be  true,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  discompound  them.  After  Armstrong  had  set 
tled  in  London  for  some  time,  Laurie  went  to  visit  him  about 
1739  or  '40  ;  on  that  he  founded  many  marvellous  stones  of 
his  intimacy  with  secretaries  of  state  and  courtiers,  \vith  whom 
he  pretended  he  had  been  quite  familiar.  When  he  alleged 
that  he  had  been  quite  at  his  ease  with  the  Chancellor  and  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  at  that  time,  and  could  call 
on  them  at  any  hour,  and  remain  to  dinner  or  supper  without 
being  invited,  we  used  to  call  to  him,  "  Halt  there,  Laurie  ;  if 
you  don't  know  the  boundary  between  truth  and  falsehood,  you 
should  draw  the  line  between  what  is  probable  and  what  is  not 
so."  As,  like  a  snowball,  we  gathered  as  we  rolled  along,  he 
fixed  himself  upon  us  for  the  rest  of  the  journey. 

We  set  out  in  the  morning  after  breakfast,  that  we  might 
reach  Langholm,  twenty-two  miles  off,  in  time  for  dinner,  and 
travelled  over  a  beautiful  pastoral  country,  eleven  miles  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge  beyond  which  the  waters  run  south,  whereas 
before  their  course  is  north  and  east.  The  road  had  been 
finished  some  time  before,  and  was  so  perfectly  good  and  well 
laid  out  that  in  my  open  chaise  I  could  keep  at  the  trot  both 
down  and  up  the  whole  way.  The  first  place  we  passed  was 
the  seat  of  Dr.  Langlands,  M.  D.,  a  very  pleasing  place,  about 
a  mile  above  Hawick  on  the  Teviot ;  of  late  it  was  in  posses 
sion  of  Lord  Napier,  and  much  improved  by  him,  and  is  now 
bought  by  James  Anderson,  Esq.,  a  younger  brother  of  St. 
Germains.  In  a  mile  or  two  further  we  reached  the  fine  seat 
of  the  family  of  Buccleuch,  the  Castle  of  Branxholm,  which 
an  ancestor  of  that  family  exchanged.  When  we  got  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge,  we  stopped  to  feed  our  horses  at  a  rural  inn, 


TOUR  ON  THE  BORDER.  389 

kept  by  a  curious  fellow  called  Rob  Achison,  with  whom  we 
had  not  conversed  many  minutes  when  we  discovered  the 
cause  of  his  being  reduced  from  the  condition  of  an  opulent 
farmer  to  that  of  the  keeper  of  a  mere  halting-place  to  divide 
a  long  stage.  Robert  had  been  a  Border  rake  or  buck  of  the 
first  head  in  his  younger  days,  and  to  wit  and  humor,  of  which 
he  had  abundance,  he  added  a  sufficient  portion  of  address  and 
impudence,  which  he  carried  with  an  air  of  careless  indiffer 
ence.  He  had  eloquence  enough,  however,  to  make  us  both 
eat  and  drink  in  his  house,  for  the  first  of  which  he  was  but 
ill-provided  ;  but  he  soon  made  us  understand,  by  the  scur 
rility  which  he  poured  out  against  those  who  had  passed  his 
house  without  calling  for  something  besides  corn  for  their 
horses,  how  we  should  be  treated  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
next  who  came,  so  we  took  a  sorry  repast  with  Robert,  and 
drank  of  his  liquors. 

The  slope  from  this  to  Langholm  is  just  eleven  miles,  and 
the  road  excellent ;  the  country  was  exceedingly  picturesque, 
though  then  without  trees,  and  full  of  sheep,  which,  as  the 
young  Duke  of  Buccleuch  and  his  Duchess  were  daily  ex 
pected,  had  been  taught  to  line  the  road  daily  through  which 
they  were  to  pass,  that  they  might  see  wherein  the  riches  of 
the  land  consisted.  As  it  was  now  in  the  beginning  of  Au 
gust,  the  fields  had  a  fine  variegated  cloak  of  verdure  ;  for  as 
the  ferns,  or  brackens,  as  they  are  called  here,  were  now  in 
perfection,  and  of  a  different  shade  from  the  grass,  they  looked 
like  a  large  curtain  or  mantle  of  green  silk  damask. 

We  arrived  in  the  evening  at  Langholm,  where  the  village 
is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  two  streams  of  Ewes  and 
Wauchope  with  the  Esk,  which  from  thence  flows,  after  being 
almost  doubled  by  the  Liddle,  through  delightful  scenery,  to 
the  Solway  Frith,  which  with  it  makes  the  western  boundary 
between  England  and  Scotland. 


390  TOUR  ON  THE  BORDER. 

It  was  too  late  to  attempt  to  see  the  castle,  so  we  sent  im 
mediately  for  John  Dickie  the  minister,  who  was  an  old  bache 
lor,  and  who  had  such  a  mixture  of  odd  qualities  in  his  com 
position,  such  as  priggism  and  pedantry,  with  the  affectation 
of  being  a  finished  gentleman;  very  sanctimonious  in  his  man 
ners,  with  a  desire  of  being  thought  free  and  liberal  in  his 
sentiments  ;  not  without  a  portion  of  knowledge,  but  more 
proud  of  it  than  Dr.  Bentley,  or  Purdie  the  schoolmaster. 
As  Mrs.  Carlyle  had  never  seen  him  before,  she  was  highly 
diverted  with  him ;  and  having  in  a  moment  discovered  all  his 
weaknesses,  she  met  them  in  so  caressing  and  encouraging  a 
manner  that  he  would  have  leaped  over  the  house  to  serve 
her ;  and  before  he  left  us  at  twelve  to  go  home,  he  became 
her  sworn  knight-errant.  To  make  her  conquest  complete 
over  the  little  man,  she  would  not  let  him  go  till  a  horse  was 
got  ready  for  an  hostler  to  conduct  him  through  the  water. 
Laurie  and  Glen  thought  this  carrying  her  coquetry  too  far, 
but  "Wight  and  I  knew  better ;  for  she  was  of  that  turn  of 
mind,  that  if  anything  had  befallen  the  little  man,  as  he  had 
got  enough  of  wine,  and  had  no  better  seat  than  a  clue  on  a 
horse,  she  would  never  have  forgiven  herself.  With  all  his 
imperfections  he  was  good-natured  and  social,  which  after  a 
banquet  never  failed  to  appear.  He  had  a  young  mare  which 
he  wished  to  sell,  and  was  going  to  send  it  to  be  sold  at 
Hawick  or  Jedburgh,  when,  hearing  there  was  to  be  a  fair  at 
Carlisle  next  day,  and  that  we  were  deliberating  about  going 
or  not,  when  somebody  happened  to  say  that  Carlisle  was  the 
best  place,  and  that  we  would  all  go  there  ;  —  Mrs.  Carlyle 
immediately  said,  "  I  will  consent  to  go  if  you  will  be  so  good 
as  accompany  us."  The  honest  soul  instantly  yielded,  and  we 
all  resolved  to  go,  now  amounting  to  five  gentlemen  and  a 
lady,  with  only  one  servant. 

"We  set  out  next  morning,  and  had  a  very  agreeable  ride 


CHANCELLOR  WEDDERBURN.  391 

down  the  river  Esk  for  seven  or  eight  miles,  through  a  valley 
finely  covered  with  young  plantations.  We  stopped  at  Long- 
town,  where  there  is  a  fine  bridge  over  the  Esk,  which  has 
saved  many  a  life  which  was  annually  lost  in  passing  very 
dangerous  fords  of  the  river  a  mile  or  two  lower  down ;  and, 
crossing  some  sands  in  the  channel  of  the  Frith  of  Solway, 
where  the  traveller  was  frequently  overtaken  by  the  rapidity 
of  the  tide,  we  arrived  at  Carlisle  before  dinner,  and  found 
the  town  as  much  crowded  as  curious  travellers  could  wish,  as 
there  was  not  only  a  great  fair  holding  on  this  day,  but  the 
Judges  were  in  town,  and  a  set  of  players  to  entertain  the 
company.  The  King's  Arms  was  so  much  crowded  that  we 
were  obliged  to  resort  to  the  large  dining-room,  which  was 
crowded  like  a  coffee-house.  But  as  the  company,  consisting 
chiefly  of  country  lads  and  lasses,  were  all  to  disperse  in  the 
evening,  we  were  able  to  secure  beds,  which  was  the  chief 
point  in  view. 

After  strolling  about  the  town  a  while  I  attempted  to  go 
into  the  court-house,  which  was  so  much  crowded  and  so  hot 
that  I  only  remained  a  few  minutes  in  the  outskirts,  where  I 
heard  my  friend  Wedderburn  pleading  as  well  as  he  could 
under  a  severe  hoarseness.  We  returned  to  the  inn,  where 
we  found  Governor  Johnstone,  and  John  Scotland,  minister 
of  Westerkirk,  with  our  friends.  Johnstone  was  employed  in 
canvassing  the  citizens,  and  Scotland  had  come  with  a  Dim- 
fermline  friend  on  purpose  to  see  Mr.  Wedderburn.  The 
Governor  told  us  of  the  players,  and  we  all  set  out  immedi 
ately  to  try  for  places,  but  it  was  so  much  crowded  that  we 
were  disappointed,  and  obliged  to  return.  Laurie,  however, 
remained  after  the  rest,  when  he  had  a  quarrel  with  a  very 
drunken  squire  of  the  name  of  Dacres,  who  had  insulted  him 
with  foul  language,  which  Laurie  returned  with  a  blow,  for 
getting  that  he  was  now  in  a  country  where  a  breach  of  the 


392  CHANCELLOR  WEDDERBURN. 

peace  is  much  more  dangerous.  Dacres  attempted  to  have 
him  committed,  but  Laurie  made  his  escape,  and  Johnstone 
having  interfered  and  said  it  was  only  a  drunken  Scotch  par 
son  who  had  been  riotous,  and  was  ignorant  of  English  laws, 
who  had  broken  the  peace,  he  got  Dacres  pacified,  and  we 
heard  no  more  of  it. 

The  Governor  had  promised  to  sup  with  us,  and  I  proposed 
sending  to  Mr.  Wedderburn ;  but  Scotland  said  it  was  need 
less,  as  he  had  seen  him,  and  found  him  preparing  to  go  to 
bed,  as  he  was  very  hoarse.  I  wrote  him  a  note,  however, 
telling  Tiim  that  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  Wight  and  I  were  there, 
and  that  Governor  Johnstone  had  promised  to  sup  with  us, 
and  that  I  would  infallibly  cure  his  hoarseness  before  to-mor 
row  morning.  His  answer  was  that  he  would  be  with  us  in 
half  an  hour.  He  was  as  good  as  his  word,  but  was  very 
hoarse.  The  supper  was  good  enough,  but  the  liquors  were 
execrable,  —  the  wine  and  porter  were  not  drinkable.  We 
then  made  a  bowl  of  the  worst  punch  I  ever  tasted.  Wed 
derburn  said,  if  we  would  mix  it  with  a  bottle  of  the  bad 
porter,  it  would  be  improved.  We  did  as  he  directed,  and  to 
our  surprise  it  became  drinkable,  and  we  were  a  jolly  com 
pany.  The  counsellor  did  not  forget  the  receipt  to  cure  his 
hoarseness.  This  was  nothing  more  than  some  castile  soap 
shaven  into  a  spoon  and  mixed  with  some  white  wine  or  water, 
so  that  it  could  be  swallowed.  This  he  took,  and  returned  to 
us  at  nine  next  morning  perfectly  cured,  and  as  sound  as  a 
bell. 

Dickie  having  sold  his  mare,  we  returned  by  the  road  we 
came,  and,  passing  one  night  at  Hawick,  and  one  at  Galashiels, 
arrived  at  home  with  Wight  next  night,  and  found  all  well. 
It  is  remarkable  that  I  remember  very  exactly  most  of  the 
circumstances  on  going  from  home  even  on  a  long  journey, 
but  that  on  returning  I  can  seldom  find  any  trace  of  them  on 


THE  BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY.  393 

my  memory,  and  all  seems  a  blank.  Is  this  owing  to  the 
imagination  being  fully  occupied  with  the  thoughts  of  home, 
which  are  always  agreeable  ?  Or  is  it  owing  to  the  eagerness 
and  curiosity  with  which  one  begins  a  journey,  and  the  rising 
hopes  of  new  pleasures  and  amusements,  and  the  drowsy  and 
inactive  state  of  the  imagination  as  you  return  ? 

The  young  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Buccleuch  were  expected 
at  this  time  to  arrive  in  Scotland  to  take  possession  of  their 
fine  estate  in  the  south,  and  their  palace  at  Dalkeith  as  their 
chief  residence.  They  were  eagerly  expected  over  all  the 
country  where  we  had  been,  great  part  of  which,  from 
Tweedside  to  the  borders  of  Cumberland,  was  the  property 
of  that  noble  family.  There  had  been  a  long  minority,  for 
this  duke's  grandfather  had  died  in  1752,  and  his  son,  Lord 
Dalkeith,  two  years  before  him.  The  family  had  been  kind 
to  their  tenants,  and  the  hopes  of  the  country  were  high  that 
this  new  possessor  of  so  large  a  property  might  inherit  the 
good  temper  and  benevolence  of  his  progenitors.  I  may 
anticipate  what  was  at  first  only  guessed,  but  came  soon  to 
be  known,  that  he  surpassed  them  all  as  much  in  justice 
and  humanity  as  he  did  in  superiority  of  understanding  and 
good  sense. 

The  Duke  and  Duchess,  with  Lady  Frances  Scott,  the 
Duke's  sister,  arrived  at  Dalkeith  in  the  beginning  of  Sep 
tember,  where  his  Grace  had  never  been  before,  being  with 
held  by  Charles  Townshend,  his  father-in-law,  lest  he  should 
become  too  fond  of  Scotland.  This  stratagem  was  defeated 
by  the  Duke's  sagacity,  for  he  discovered  on  his  journey 
through  his  own  great  estate,  from  the  marked  attention  of 
the  people,  that  he  would  be  a  much  greater  man  in  this 
country,  and  would  have  a  much  more  extensive  range  for 
his  benevolence  than  he  could  possibly  have  in  the  south, 
where  his  own  estates  were  small,  and  where  there  was 
17* 


394  GREGORY  AND  THE  BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY. 

such  a  number  of  more  opulent  lords,  his  rivals  in  all  the 
attributes  of  true  nobility. 

In  order  to  make  the  Duke  and  Duchess  feel  more  impres 
sively  the  attachment  of  their  vassals  and  tenants  in  the  south, 
I  wrote  a  copy  of  verses  on  the  birthday  of  the  former,  which 
I  had  copied  in  another  hand,  and  sent  on  the  morning  of  that 
day.  It  was  some  time  before  they  could  guess  that  I  was 
the  author ;  and  one  of  their  tenants  had  for  a  while  the  credit 
of  it.  I  had  by  good  luck  truly  predicted,  by  way  of  advice, 
what  her  Grace  became,  but  no  prediction  could  then  reach 
the  extent  of  her  merit.  The  verses  were  sent  to  the  Scots 
Magazine,  where  Dr.  Gregory  read  them,  and  suspected  me 
for  the  author.  When  I  next  saw  him,  he  asked  me,  and  I 
owned  them,  when  he  said  they  were  very  good,  —  too  good 
for  the  subject,  for  they  would  never  act  up  to  the  strain  of 
praise  in  that  poem.  "  Do  you  know  them,  Doctor  ?  "  "  No," 
answered  he,  "  but  Mrs.  Montague  does ;  and  she  says  that, 
though  very  good  young  people,  they  have  no  energy  of  char 
acter,  and  will  remain  obscure  and  insignificant."  "  Mrs. 
Montague's  line,  then,  is  too  short,  my  good  Doctor :  you  may 
trust  me  to  measure  their  depth,  and  you  will  live  to  see  that 
her  discernment  on  this  occasion  has  failed  her."  Gregory, 
with  many  good  qualities,  had  so  much  of  the  apothecary 
about  him,  that  he  did  not  think  much  of  anybody  who  was 
not  likely  to  frequent  his  shop.  He  knew  that  Smith  would 
recommend  both  Cullen  and  Black  to  be  their  physician  in 
ordinary  rather  than  him.* 

Between  their  arrival  at  Dalkeith  and  his  Grace's  birth 
day,  the  13th  of  September,  the  Right  Honorable  Charles 

*  For  information  about  Cullen,  Black,  and  the  other  eminent  men  of  the 
medical  school  of  Scotland  often  mentioned  in  these  pages,  it  is  fortunate  that 
the  Life  of  Culhn,  begun  by  Dr.  John  Thomson,  and  continued  by  his  son, 
has  now  been  completed  by  Dr.  Craigie,  2  vols.  8vo,  1859.  —  ED. 


ADAM  SMITH  AND  THE  BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY.         395 

Townshend  died,  after  an  illness  of  a  few  days,  of  an  inflam 
mation  in  his  bowels.  This  event  obliged  them  to  postpone 
the  celebration  of  the  birthday,  when  they  were  to  have  had 
an  entertainment  for  all  their  friends.  This  sudden  death 
affected  the  Duke  and  his  sister  very  differently.  She,  who 
had  been  bred  up  under  him  from  the  fourth  or  fifth  year  of 
her  age,  and  had  found  in  him  an  enlightened  instructor  and 
a  kind  protector,  felt  all  the  grief  which  a  dutiful  child  feels 
for  an  indulgent  parent ;  but  the  Duke,  who  had  been  very 
little  at  home  during  Mr.  Townshend's  marriage  with  his 
mother,  and  whose  more  ripened  discernment  had  probably 
disclosed  to  him  his  father-in-law's  defects  as  well  as  his  shin 
ing  qualities,  was  much  less  afflicted  on  this  melancholy  occa 
sion,  and  was  heard  to  say,  a  few  days  after  the  news,  that 
though  he  sincerely  regretted  Mr.  Townshend's  premature 
death,  yet  to  him  it  was  attended  with  the  consolation  that  it 
left  him  at  liberty  to  choose  his  own  line  of  life,  for  had  Mr. 
Townshend  survived,  he  might  have  been  drawn  into  the  vor 
tex  of  politics  much  against  his  will.  Such  was  the  sound 
ness  of  this  young  nobleman's  mind  at  an  early  age,  from 
whence  a  discerning  observer  might  predict  the  excellence 
of  that  character  which  gradually  evolved  on  his  admiring 
countrymen. 

In  two  or  three  weeks  the  day  came  when  they  were  to 
see  company,  and  when  they  assembled  by  cards  about  fifty 
ladies  and  gentlemen  of  their  friends  and  the  neighborhood, 
of  whom  few  indeed  were  ladies,  as  they  were  hardly  yet 
acquainted  with  anybody.  The  fare  was  sumptuous,  but  the 
company  was  formal  and  dull.  Adam  Smith,  their  only  fa 
miliar  at  table,  was  but  ill  qualified  to  promote  the  jollity  of  a 
birthday,  and  their  Graces  were  quite  inexperienced.  The 
Duke,  indeed,  had  been  more  than  two  years  in  France,  and 
four  months  in  London  since  he  came  home,  but  he  was  back- 


o3G    ADAM  SMITH  AND  THE  BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY. 

ward  at  that  time  to  set  himself  forward,  and  showed  a  cold 
ness  and  reserve  which  often  in  our  superiors  is  thought  to  be 
pride.  Had  it  not  been  for  Alexander  M'Millan,  "W.  S.,  and 
myself,  the  meeting  would  have  been  very  dull,  and  might 
have  been  dissolved  without  even  drinking  the  health  of  the 
day.  After  that  health  and  a  few  more  toasts  had  gone 
round,  and  the  ladies  had  moved,  and  M'Millan  and  his  com 
panions  at  a  by-table  had  got  into  the  circle,  we  got  into 
spirits  that  better  suited  the  occasion.  The  Duchess  at  that 
time  was  extremely  beautiful ;  her  features  were  regular,  her 
complexion  good,  her  black  eyes  of  an  impressive  lustre,  and 
her  mouth,  when  she  spoke,  uncommonly  graceful.  The 
expression  of  her  countenance  was  that  of  good  sense  and 
serenity ;  she  had  been  bred  in  too  private  a  way,  which  made 
her  shy  and  backward,  and  it  was  some  time  before  she 
acquired  ease  in  company,  which  at  last  enabled  her  to  dis 
play  that  superiority  of  understanding  which  led  all  the 
female  virtues  in  its  train,  accompanied  with  the  love  of 
mirth,  and  all  the  graces  of  colloquial  intercourse.  Her 
person  was  light,  though  above  the  common  height,  but 
active  and  elegant. 

Smith  remained  with  them  for  two  months,  and  then  re 
turned  to  Kirkcaldy  to  his  mother  and  his  studies.  I  have 
often  thought  since,  that  if  they  had  brought  down  a  man 
of  more  address  than  he  was,  how  much  sooner  their  first 
appearance  might  have  been ;  their  own  good  sense  and 
discernment  enabled  them  sooner  to  draw  round  them  as 
familiars  a  better  set  of  people  of  their  own  choosing,  than 
could  have  been  picked  out  for  them  by  the  assistance  of 
an  aid-de-camp. 

By  means  of  an  established  custom  of  their  predecessors, 
they  had  two  public  days  in  the  week,  when  everybody  who 
pleased  came  to  dine  with  them.  But  that  on  Thursday  was 


THE  BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY.  397 

soon  cut  off,  and  Saturday  was  their  only  public  day.  But 
it  would  have  been  far  better  if  that  day  had  been  also  abol 
ished,  and  if,  in  place  of  that,  they  had  taken  to  invited  com 
panies,  which  might  have  been  well  assorted,  and  might  have 
prevented  all  that  dulness,  and  even  solemnity,  which  over 
clouded  large  companies  little  acquainted,  and  seldom  capable 
of  making  a  company  of  a  score  tolerably  agreeable.  I  must 
aver,  however,  without  pretending  to  uncommon  discernment, 
that  I  soon  discovered  in  both  that  superior  understanding, 
and  that  uncommon  degree  of  humanity,  as  well  as  the  high 
est  sense  of  probity  and  virtue,  which  have  made  them  a  bless 
ing  and  honor  to  their  country  for  many  years  past.  For 
the  Duke's  uncommon  abilities,  as  well  as  his  public  spirit, 
became  erelong  as  conspicuous  in  the  exercise  of  more  honor 
able  offices  of  trust,  which  fell  on  him  unsought,  as  his  unas 
suming  and  familiar  manners  made  him  appear  a  complete 
gentleman  in  all  the  intercourse  of  private  life.  The  family, 
though  rich  and  great,  had  long  been  in  a  state  of  obscurity 
through  want  of  talents  and  long  minorities.  In  this  Duke 
was  revived  the  character  which  Sir  James  Melville  gave  his 
renowned  predecessor  in  Queen  Mary's  reign,  — "  Walter 
Scot  of  Buccleugh,  wise  and  true,  stout  and  modest."  * 

No  two  characters  I  ever  have  known  are  so  free  of  defects 
as  that  noble  pair,  while  each  in  their  department  displayed 
such  talents  and  virtues  as  made  their  numerous  descendants 
not  only  happy  in  themselves,  but  also  trained  them  up  in  the 
habitual  disposition  to  become  blessings  to  all  their  own  con 
nections  to  the  latest  posterity. 

The  Duke's  sister,  Lady  Frances,  though  far  from  hand 
some,  or  in  any  respect  attractive  in  her  person,  though  then 
only  seventeen,  showed  the  opening  of  that  character  which 

*  "  Quhilk  Lard  of  Bnclouch  was  a  man  of  rare  qualites,  wyse,  trew, 
stout,  and  modest."  —  MELVILLE'S  Memoirs,  240.  —  ED. 


398  THE   BUCCLEUCH  FAMILY. 

she  has  since  so  fully  displayed  as  Lady  Douglas.  She  had 
taste  and  knowledge  in  the  belles-lettres,  a  pleasant  vein  of 
ridicule,  without  the  least  grain  of  malignity ;  for  she,  like  her 
brother,  was  the  very  milk  of  human  kindness. 

As  I  had  been  intimately  acquainted  with  Charles  Towns- 
hend,  her  father-in-law,  who  protected  her  from  domestic 
tyranny,  and  had  even  opened  her  mind  by  his  instructions, 
she  took  readily  to  me,  and  I  soon  became  intimate  with  her, 
and  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  her,  both  in  prose  and 
verse,  which  conduced  to  our  amusement.  The  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  Lord  Douglas's  family,  which  consisted  of 
three  sons  and  one  daughter,  demonstrated  the  excellence  of 
her  domestic  character.  It  was  remarkable  that  she  was  the 
first  female  descendant  of  the  Duchess  of  Monmouth  and 
Buccleuch  who  was  married. 

I  had  been  Moderator  of  the  Synod  in  November,  1766, 
and  opened  the  Synod  in  May,  1767,  with  a  sermon,  which 
was  printed.  The  window-tax  was  now  levied,  which  gave  a 
serious  alarm  to  the  clergy :  there  was  a  standing  committee 
of  Assembly,  which  had  hitherto  done  nothing  effectual.  As 
I  had  been  the  champion  for  resisting  payment  of  the  tax,  I 
was  obliged  to  bestir  myself  very  much  about  it ;  and  as  Dr. 
Robertson  was  of  opinion  we  ought  to  submit  to  it,  I  had  up 
hill  work  with  it. 

(1768.) — Towards  the  end  of  January  this  year,  it  was 
that  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  I  accompanied  her  aunt  and  uncle  to 
visit  their  son  Walter  Home,  then  a  lieutenant  in  the  7th 
Regiment,  and  lying  at  Glasgow.  Walter  had  a  chum  of  the 
name  of  Mainwaring,  a  very  agreeable  young  man.  As  Dr. 
Wight  was  now  fully  established  in  Glasgow,  and  had  one  of 
his  sisters  for  his  housekeeper,  he  was  very  hospitable  and 
popular,  and  we  met  daily  several  of  the  Professors,  who  were 
able  men,  and  had  agreeable  conversation,  —  such  as  Alexan- 


PROFESSOK  MILLAR  OF  GLASGOW.  399 

der  Stevenson  and  John  Millar.  This  last  had  even  begun  to 
distinguish  himself  by  his  democratical  principles,  and  that 
sceptical  philosophy  which  young  noblemen  and  gentlemen  of 
legislative  rank  carried  into  the  world  with  them  from  his  law- 
class,  and,  many  years  afterwards,  particularly  at  the  period 
of  the  French  Revolution,  displayed  with  popular  zeal,  to  the 
no  small  danger  of  perversion  to  all  those  under  their  influ 
ence.  I  had  a  hint  of  this  from  Dr.  Wight  before  1782,  when 
he  died,  who  added,  that  though  some  sound  heads  might  find 
antidotes  to  this  poison  before  they  went  into  the  world,  and 
see  in  the  British  constitution  all  that  is  valuable  in  a  democ 
racy,  without  its  defects  and  faults,  yet,  as  it  was  connected 
with  lax  principles  in  religion,  there  might  be  not  a  few  of 
such  a  contexture  of  understanding  as  could  not  be  cured. 
Millar  lived  to  the  end  of  the  century.* 

I  met  with  a  strong  proof  of  what  is  contained  in  the  above 
paragraph  respecting  Professor  Millar,  a  long  time  afterwards, 
when  dining  with  Robert  Colt,  Esq.,  then  residing  at  Inveresk. 
I  don't  exactly  remember  the  year,  but  I  think  it  was  before 
the  war  of  1798.  There  was  nobody  with  Mr.  Colt  but  a 
brother-in-law  of  his,  when  we  were  joined  by  the  late  Sir 
Hew  Dalrymple  of  North  Berwick,  who  had  dined  in  Edin 
burgh.  After  consenting  to  stay  all  night,  Sir  Hew  said, 
"  Colt,  was  not  you  a  student  of  law  for  two  years  with  Millar, 
at  Glasgow  ?  "  "  Yes,  I  was,"  answered  Mr.  Colt,  "  Then," 
replied  Sir  Hew,  "  I  find  I  am  right ;  and  as  my  Hew  has 
been  four  years  at  St.  Andrews,  and  seems  now  desirous  of 
following  the  law,  I  have  been  advised  to  send  him  to  Millar, 
and  have  come  to  consult  you  about  it."  "  We  '11  talk  about 
that  coolly  to-morrow  morning,  Sir  Hew ;  in  the  mean  time, 
give  me  your  toast."  I  knew  well  the  meaning  of  this  re- 

*  Author  of  the  once  very  celebrated  Historical  View  of  the  English  Gov 
ernment,  and  of  Observations  concerning  the  Distinction  of  Ranks.  —  ED. 


400  BLAIR   AND   ROBERTSON. 

serve ;  and  a  few  days  afterwards  meeting  Mr.  Colt,  "  Well," 
said  I,  "  did  you  settle  your  friend  Sir  Hew's  mind  about  send 
ing  his  son  to  Glasgow  ?  "  "  Yes,"  answered  he,  "  and  you  '11 
hear  no  more  of  that  project,"  This  Mr.  Colt  was  an  able 
and  a  worthy  man,  but  he  was  shy  and  reserved,  and  died, 
unknown  but  to  a  few,  in  the  year  1797.  He  had  overcome 
many  disadvantages  of  his  education,  for  he  had  been  sent  to 
a  Jacobite  seminary  of  one  Elphinstone  at  Kensington,  where 
his  body  was  starved,  and  his  mind  also.  He  returned  to 
Edinburgh  to  college.  He  had  hardly  a  word  of  Latin,  and 
was  obliged  to  work  hard  with  a  private  tutor.  At  Glasgow, 
to  be  sure,  he  learned  public  law,  but  took  in  poison  with  it, 
which  he  had  strength  of  understanding  to  expel,  as  well  as  to 
overcome  many  other  disadvantages. 

Lieutenant  Walter  Home,  before  the  end  of  the  American 
war,  was  major  of  the  42d  Regiment,  was  an  able  man  and 
an  excellent  officer ;  he  was  the  ablest  of  all  the  family,  ex 
cept  Robert  the  clergyman,  although  his  third  brother  Rod- 
dam,  the  admiral,  got  to  a  higher  rank.  By  means  of  my  old 
connections  at  Glasgow  and  Dr.  Wight's  friends,  we  were 
feasted  and  every  way  well  entertained  there.  Nothing  could 
surpass  the  satisfaction  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Home  had  in  seeing 
their  son  so  well  received  in  the  best  society  in  Glasgow.  In 
those  days  the  members  of  the  ministry,  excepting  a  very  few 
indeed,  were  the  only  people  of  liberal  conversation  in  that 
city. 

Drs.  Blair  and  Robertson  were  at  London  this  year  during 
the  time  of  the  Assembly  —  the  first  to  visit  London  for  the 
first  and  only  time  in  his  life ;  the  second  to  transact  with  his 
bookseller  for  his  History  of  Charles  V.,  Emperor  of  Ger 
many  and  King  of  Spain,  and  to  enjoy  the  fame  of  his  former 
publication.  Dr.  Robertson  was  introduced  to  the  first  com 
pany  in  London,  as  all  the  people  of  fashion,  both  male  and 


BLAIR   AND   ROBERTSON.  401 

female,  were  eager  to  see  the  historian  of  (Jueen  Mary,  who 
had  given  them  so  much  pleasure.  He  did  not  disappoint 
their  expectation,  for  though  he  spoke  broad  Scotch  in  point 
of  pronunciation  and  accent  or  tone,  his  was  the  language  of 
literature  and  taste,  and  of  an  enlightened  and  liberal  mind. 
Dr.  Blair  exhibited  in  a  much  narrower  circle,  for  nothing  of 
his  having  been  yet  published  but  his  Dissertation  on  Ossian, 
he  had  raised  but  little  curiosity ;  and  excepting  the  family  of 
Northumberland,  a  son  of  which,  Lord  Algernon  Piercy,  had 
been  three  years  under  his  roof  at  the  university,  he  hardly 
was  known  to  any  of  the  English  nobility  or  gentry,  and  de 
pended  chiefly  for  his  entertainmeut  there  on  such  literary 
people  as  he  had  seen  at  Edinburgh,  or  was  introduced  to  by 
Dr.  Blair  of  Westminster,  or  James  M'Pherson,  the  translator 
of  Ossian* 

Blair  had  taken  charge  of  Lord  Glasgow,  the  King's  Com 
missioner,  during  the  General  Assembly,  who,  though  he 
was  a  very  able  man,  had  so  much  distrust  in  himself  that  he 
could  not  compose  his  own  speeches.  This  service  was  laid 
upon  me,  and  I  had  much  pleasure  in  the  close  communi 
cation  which  this  gave  me  with  his  Lordship,  as  it  opened  to 
me  a  near  view  of  uncommon  talents  and  exalted  mind,  of 
the  service  of  which  the  world  was  in  great  measure  de 
prived  by  the  most  insuperable  diffidence  and  modesty,  f 

I  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  this  year,  in  which  there 
was  little  business  of  any  consequence.  Henry  Dundas,  who 
was  now  well  known  there,  took  an  attentive  charge  of  it,  and 
leaned  on  me  as  his  best  clerical  assistant. 

=*  His  "  Lectures  on  Rhetoric,"  as  delivered  to  his  class,  though  not  then 
published,  had  obtained  considerable  colloquial  celebrity.  It  was  not  until 
1777  that  he  became  famous  by  the  publication  of  his  Sermons.  —  ED. 

f  See  above,  p.  323. 

Z 


CHAPTER     XIV. 

1769-1770:   AGE,   47-48. 

THE  CLERGY  OF  SCOTLAND  AND  THE  WINDOW-TAX.  —  CAELYLE  AP 
POINTED  THEIR  CHAMPION.  —  SOJOURN  IN  LONDON.  —  THE  SCOTCH 
DANCING  ASSEMBLY.  —  THE  CHURCH  OF  SCOTLAND'S  CLAIMS  TO 
CONSIDERATION.  —  NEGOTIATIONS  WITH  STATESMEN.  —  DR.  DODD 
PREACHING  TO  THE  MAGDALENS.  —  THE  CAREER  OF  COLONEL  DOW. 
—  ANECDOTES  OF  WOLFE  AND  QUEBEC.  —  GARRICK  AND  JOHN  HOME'S 
PLAYS.  —  DECISION  OF  THE  DOUGLAS  CAUSE.  —  LORD  MANSFIELD.  — 
THE  EXCITEMENT.  —  CONVERSATION  AT  MRS.  MONTAGUE'S.  —  THE 
EETURN  HOME.  —  BACK  TO  LONDON  ABOUT  THE  WINDOW-TAX.  — 
ANECDOTES  OF  THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  NORTH  MINISTRY.  —  CON 
CLUSION. 

1769. 

THE  window-tax  alarmed  the  clergy  more  and  more,  and 
as  I  had  been  the  great  champion  in  maintaining  on  every 
occasion  that  the  Scottish  clergy  by  our  law  ought  to  be 
exempted  from  this  tax,  on  the  same  grounds  on  which  they 
are  exempted  from  paying  the  land-tax  for  their  glebes,  while 
one  of  our  meetings  were  deliberating  what  was  to  be  done, 
I  told  them  that  as  I  intended  to  be  in  London  in  the  spring 
on  private  business,  I  would  very  gladly  accept  of  any  com 
mission  they  would  give  me,  to  state  our  claim  to  the  King's 
Ministers,  and  particularly  to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  ;  and 
at  least  to  prepare  the  way  for  an  application  for  exemption 
to  the  Parliament  in  the  following  year,  in  case  it  should  be 
found  expedient.  Robertson,  who  had  thought  it  more  advis- 


JOURNEY  TO  LONDON.  403 

able  to  pay  rather  than  resist  any  longer,  was  surprised  into 
consent  with  this  sudden  proposal  of  mine,  and  frankly  agreed 
to  it,  though  he  told  me  privately  that  it  would  not  have  suc 
cess.  The  truth  was,  that  Mrs.  Carlyle's  health  was  so  indif 
ferent  that  I  became  uneasy,  and  wished  to  try  Bath,  and  to 
visit  London,  where  she  never  had  been,  on  our  way.  The 
clergy  were  highly  pleased  with  my  offer  of  service  without 
any  expense,  and  I  was  accordingly  commissioned,  in  due 
form,  by  the  Committee  on  the  Window-Tax,  to  carry  on 
this  affair.  We  prepared  for  our  journey,  and  set  out  about 
the  middle  of  February.  We  had  the  good  fortune  to  get 
Martin,  the  portrait-painter,  and  Bob  Scott,  a  young  physi 
cian,  as  our  companions  on  our  journey.  This  made  it  very 
pleasant,  as  Martin  was  a  man  of  uncommon  talents  for  con 
versation.  We  stopped  for  two  days  with  the  Blacketts  at 
Newcastle,  and  then  went  on  by  Huntingdon,  and  after  that  to 
Cambridge.  As  I  had  not  been  there  when  I  was  formerly 
in  London,  I  was  desirous  to  see  that  famous  university ;  and 
besides,  had  got  a  warm  exhortation  from  my  friend  Dr. 
Robertson,  to  diverge  a  little  from  the  straight  line,  and  go 
by  Rockwell,  where  there  were  the  finest  eels  in  all  England. 
We  took  that  place  in  our  way,  and  arrived  long  enough 
before  dinner  to  have  our  eels  dressed  in  various  ways ;  but 
though  the  spitch-cocked  had  been  so  highly  recommended 
by  our  friend,  we  thought  nothing  of  them,  and  Mrs.  Carlyle 
could  not  taste  them,  so  that  we  had  all  to  dine  on  some  very 
indifferent  mutton-broth,  which  had  been  ordered  for  her.  I 
resolved  after  this  never  to  turn  off  the  road  by  the  advice 
of  epicures. 

We  got  to  Cambridge  in  the  dark,  but  remained  all  next 
forenoon,  and  saw  all  the  public  buildings,  some  of  which 
are  very  fine,  particularly  King's  College  Chapel.  As  none 
of  us  had  any  acquaintances  there  that  we  knew  of,  we  were 


404  THE   FAMILY   CIRCLE. 

not  induced  to  stay  any  longer,  and  so  made  the  best  of  our 
way  to  London. 

My  youngest  sister  Janet,  a  beautiful,  elegant,  and  pleasing 
young  woman,  having  gone  to  London  to  visit  her  married 
sister,  had  herself  married,  in  1760,  a  gentleman  who  had 
been  captain  of  a  trading  vessel  in  the  Mediterranean,  and, 
having  been  attacked  by  a  French  or  Spanish  privateer,  took 
her  after  a  short  engagement.*  He  was  a  very  sensible, 
clever  man,  much  esteemed  by  his  companions,  and  had 
become  insurance-broker.  On  our  arrival  in  London,  there 
fore,  which  was  on  the  llth  February,  we  took  up  our  resi 
dence  at  their  house,  which  was  in  Aldermanbury.  They 
had  also  a  country-house,  where  their  children  resided  the 
whole  year,  and  where  they  spent  the  summer  months  ;  and 
being  only  nine  miles  from  London,  with  a  very  good  road, 
my  brother-in-law  could  easily  ride  every  day  to  attend  to 
his  business,  and  return  to  dinner.  Merton  was  a  very  agree 
able  place.  The  house  had  been  originally  built  by  Lord 
Eglinton,  and  soon  after  forsaken  and  sold.  There  was  a 
large  garden  of  three  acres,  divided  into  three  parts,  and 
planted  with  the  best  fruit-trees,  on  which,  when  I  after 
wards  saw  it  in  the  season,  I  said  there  were  more  peaches 
and  apricots  than  grew  then  in  Midlothian ;  for  I  well  remem 
ber  that  [there  were  very  few]  till  we  had  hothouses  here, 
which  had  then  only  had  a  beginning,  by  Lord  Chief  Baron 

*  See  Scots  Magazine,  December,  1759 :  — 

"  CAPTURES   BY   PRIVATEERS,    ETC. 

"  By  the  Dragon,  Bell,  and  the  Greyhound,  Dewar,  both  from  London, 
Le  Pendant,  Jos.  Geruhard,  from  St.  Domingo;  carried  into  Gibraltar." 

See  also  the  Caledonian  Mercury,  15th  December,  1759:  — 

u  The  Dragon,  Bell,  and  the  Greyhound,  Dewar,  both  from  London,  are 

arrived  at  Gibraltar,  and  have  carried  a  French  prize  with  them."  —  Note 

appended  to  the  MS. 


THE   WILKITES.  405 

Ord,  at  the  Dean,  and  Baron  Stuart  Moncrieff,  and  were  not 
in  great  numbers  till  1780. 

About  the  third  night  after  we  came,  we  went  with  the  Bells 
to  the  Scotch  dancing  assembly,  which  then  met  in  the  King's 
Arms  Tavern,  in  Cheapside,  where  we  met  many  of  our  ac 
quaintance,  and  were  introduced  to  several  others  with  whom 
we  were  not  before  acquainted.  I  was  glad  to  find  from  them 
all  that  my  brother-in-law  was  in  high  esteem  among  them  as  a 
man  of  business,  not  only  for  his  integrity,  but  his  aptitude  for 
business.  My  sister  was  much  admired  as  a  fine  woman,  and 
no  less  for  the  elegance  and  propriety  of  her  manners  than  for 
her  handsome  face  and  fine  person.  He  had  the  good-luck  to 
be  called  Honest  Tom,  in  distinction  to  another  who  frequented 
Lloyd's  Coffee-house,  who  was  not  in  so  much  favor,  and  was 
besides  a  very  hot  Wilkite.  After  a  few  days  more  we  were 
invited  to  a  fine  subscription-dinner  in  the  London  Tavern, 
where  there  was  a  company  of  about  fifty  ladies  and  gentle 
men.  The  dinner  was  sumptuous,  but  I  was  not  much  de 
lighted  with  the  conversation.  The  men,  especially,  were 
vulgar  and  uneducated ;  and  most  of  the  English  among  them 
violent  Wilkites,  and  gave  toasts  of  the  party-kind,  which 
showed  their  breeding  where  the  majority  were  Scotch.  It 
was  with  some  difficulty  that  I  could  get  Honest  Tom  to  treat 
their  bad  manners  with  ridicule  and  contempt,  rather  than 
with  rage  and  resentment. 

Having  now  been  near  a  week  in  London,  it  was  proper 
that  I  should  give  a  commencement  to  the  business  which  I 
had  undertaken  ;  I  therefore  applied  myself  to  making  the 
necessary  calls  on  Dr.  Gordon  of  the  Temple,  a  Scotch  so- 
licitor-at-law,  and  the  Lord  Advocate  for  Scotland,  and  who 
ever  else  I  thought  might  be  of  use.  I  had  drawn  a  short 
memorial  on  the  business  which  Dr.  Gordon  approved,  but 
wished  it  to  be  left  with  him  for  corrections  and  additions. 


406  THE   CHURCH  NEGLECTED. 

This  I  did,  but  was  surprised  to  find,  when  he  returned  it 
several  weeks  after  as  fit  to  be  sent  to  the  press,  that  there 
was  hardly  any  change  on  it  at  all.  But  I  was  still  more  sur 
prised,  when  calling  on  the  Lord  Advocate  (James  Montgom 
ery,  Esq.),  and  opening  the  affair  to  him,  to  hear  him  answer 
that  he  wished  me  success  with  all  his  heart,  but  could  give 
me  no  aid  ;  for,  he  added,  that  when  the  clergy  were  lately  in 
four  years'  arrears,  the  payment  of  which  would  have  greatly 
distressed  them,  Dr.  Robertson  had  come  to  him  in  Edinburgh, 
and  had  strongly  interceded  with  him  to  get  that  arrear  ex 
cused,  and  he  would  answer  for  the  punctual  payment  by  the 
clergy  in  future.  He  had,  accordingly,  on  this  promise,  ap 
plied  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  then  First  Minister,  and  ob 
tained  what  the  Doctor  had  asked  on  the  condition  promised. 
In  this  state  of  things  it  was  impossible  that  he  could  assist 
me  as  Lord  Advocate,  but  that,  as  a  private  gentleman,  he 
would  do  all  he  could ;  that  was,  to  introduce  me  to  the  Minis 
ter,  to  speak  of  me  as  I  deserved,  and  to  say  that  he  thought 
the  petition  I  brought  very  reasonable,  and  agreeable  to  the 
law  of  Scotland.  All  this  he  punctually  fulfilled,  for  he  was 
an  honorable  man. 

The  Church  of  Scotland  had  been  at  all  times  very  meanly 
provided;  and  even  when  they  were  serving  their  country  with 
the  utmost  fidelity  and  zeal  at  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  and 
ever  afterwards  supporting  that  part  of  the  aristocracy  which 
resisted  the  encroachments  of  the  Crown  and  maintained  the 
liberties  of  the  people,  —  even  then  their  most  moderate  re 
quests  to  be  raised  above  poverty  were  denied.*  After  the 
union  of  the  crowns,  and  even  after  that  of  the  legislatures, 
they  have,  on  every  application  for  redress,  been  scurvily 
treated.  The  history  of  our  country  bears  the  strongest  testi- 

*  Whether  or  not  the  author  meant  to  say  Reformation,  the  word  Resto 
ration  must  have  been  a  slip.  —  ED. 


THE   CHUBCH  NEGLECTED.  407 

mony  of  their  loyalty  to  the  king,  while  they  warmly  opposed 
every  appearance  of  arbitrary  power  even  to  prosecution  and 
death.  They  were  cajoled  and  flattered  by  the  aristocracy 
when  they  wanted  their  aid,  but  never  relieved,  till  Cromwell 
considered  their  poverty,  and  relieved  them  for  the  time.  Yet, 
after  Presbytery  was  finally  settled  at  the  Revolution,  the 
clergy  were  allowed  almost  to  starve  till,  down  in  our  own 
time,  in  the  year  1790,  a  generous  and  wise  man  was  raised 
to  the  President's  chair,  who,  being  also  President  of  that 
Court  when  it  sits  as  a  committee  of  Parliament  for  the  aug 
mentation  of  ministers'  stipends,  with  the  concurrence  of  his 
brethren  had  redressed  this  grievance,  and  enabled  the  clergy 
and  their  families  to  survive  such  years  of  dearth  as  the  1799 
and  1800,  which,  but  for  that  relief,  must  have  reduced  them 
to  ruin.  This  happened  by  good-luck  while  the  land  estates 
in  Scotland  were  doubled  and  tripled  in  their  rents,  otherwise 
it  could  not  have  been  done  without  a  clamorous  opposition.* 

It  is  observable  that  no  country  has  ever  been  more  tran 
quil,  except  the  trifling  insurrections  of  1715  and  '45,  than 
Scotland  has  been  since  the  Revolution  in  1688,  —  a  period 
of  117  years  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  country  has  been 
prosperous,  with  an  increase  of  agriculture,  trade,  and  manu 
factures,  as  well  as  all  the  ornamental  arts  of  life,  to  a  degree 
unexampled  in  any  age  and  country.  How  far  the  steady 
loyalty  to  the  Crown,  and  attachment  to  the  constitution,  to 
gether  with  the  unwearied  diligence  of  the  clergy  in  teaching 
a  rational  religion,  may  have  contributed  to  this  prosperity, 
cannot  be  exactly  ascertained ;  but  surely  enough  appears  to 
entitle  them  to  the  high  respect  of  the  State,  and  to  justice 
from  the  country,  in  a  decent  support  to  them  and  to  their 
families,  and,  if  possible,  to  a  permanent  security  like  that  of 

*  The  Lord  President  of  the  Court  of  Session  here  referred  to  is  Sir  Hay 
Campbell.  This  matter  is  again  alluded  to,  p.  427.  —  ED. 


408  DR.  DODD. 

the  Church  of  England,  by  giving  the  clergy  a  title  to  vote  on 
their  livings  for  the  member  of  Parliament  for  the  county, 
which  would  at  once  raise  their  respect,  and  by  making  them 
members  of  the  State,  would  forever  secure  their  interest  in 
it,  and  firmly  cement  and  strengthen  the  whole. 

Before  I  began  my  operations  relative  to  the  window-tax, 
I  witnessed  something  memorable.  It  being  much  the  fashion 
to  go  on  a  Sunday  evening  to  a  chapel  of  the  Magdalen  Asy 
lum,  we  went  there  on  the  second  Sunday  we  were  in  Lon 
don,  and  had  difficulty  to  get  tolerable  seats  for  my  sister  and 
wife,  the  crowd  of  genteel  people  was  so  great.  The  preach 
er  was  Dr.  Dodd,  a  man  afterwards  too  well  known.  The  un 
fortunate  young  women  were  in  a  latticed  gallery,  where  you 
could  only  see  those  who  chose  to  be  seen.  The  preacher's 
text  was,  "  If  a  man  look  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,"  &c. 
The  text  itself  was  shocking,  and  the  sermon  was  composed 
with  the  least  possible  delicacy,  and  was  a  shocking  insult  on 
a  sincere  penitent,  and  fuel  for  the  warm  passions  of  the 
hypocrites.  The  fellow  was  handsome,  and  delivered  his 
discourse  remarkably  well  for  a  reader.  When  he  had 
finished,  there  were  unceasing  whispers  of  applause,  which  I 
could  not  help  contradicting  aloud,  and  condemning  the  whole 
institution,  as  well  as  the  exhibition  of  the  preacher,  as  contra 
bonos  mores,  and  a  disgrace  to  a  Christian  city. 

On  the  day  after  this  I  went  to  the  House  of  Peers,  and 
heard  Sir  Fletcher  Norton's  pleading  on  the  Douglas  Cause, 
on  the  side  of  Douglas,  but  in  a  manner  inferior  to  what  I 
expected  from  his  fame :  but  this  was  not  a  question  of  law, 
but  of  fact.  I  dined  and  supped  next  day  with  Colonel  Dow, 
who  had  translated  well  the  History  of  Hindostan,  and  wrote 
tolerably  well  the  Tragedy  of  Zingis.  As  James  M'Pherson, 
the  translator  of  Ossian,  and  he  lived  together,  and  as  his 
play,  in  point  of  diction  and  manners,  had  some  resemblance 


COLONEL  DOW.  409 

to  the  poems  of  Ossian,  there  were  not  a  few  who  ascribed 
the  tragedy  to  M'Pherson ;  but  such  people  did  not  know  that, 
could  M'Pherson  have  claimed  it,  he  was  not  the  man  to  relin 
quish  either  the  credit  or  profits  which  might  arise  from  it, 
for  the  tragedy  ran  its  nine  nights. 

Dow  was  a  Scotch  adventurer  who  had  been  bred  at  the 
school  of  Dunbar,  his  father  being  in  the  Customs  there,  and 
had  run  away  from  his  apprenticeship  at  Eyemouth,  and 
found  his  way  to  the  East  Indies,  where,  having  a  turn  for 
languages,  which  had  been  fostered  by  his  education,  he  soon 
became  such  a  master  of  the  native  tongue  as  to  accelerate 
his  preferment  in  the  army,  for  he  soon  had  the  command  of 
a  regiment  of  sepoys.  He  was  a  sensible  and  knowing  man, 
of  very  agreeable  manners,  and  of  a  mild  and  gentle  dispo 
sition.  As  he  was  telling  us  that  night,  that  when  he  had 
the  charge  of  the  Great  Mogul,  with  two  regiments  under  his 
command,  at  Delhi,  he  was  tempted  to  dethrone  the  monarch, 
and  mount  the  throne  in  his  stead,  which  he  said  he  could 
easily  have  done :  —  when  I  asked  him  what  prevented  him 
from  yielding  to  the  temptation,  he  gave  me  this  memorable 
answer,  that  it  was  reflecting  on  what  his  old  schoolfellows  at 
Dunbar  would  think  of  him  for  being  guilty  of  such  an  action. 
His  company  were  Dr.  John  Douglas  and  Garrick,  the  two 
M'Phersons,  John  Home,  and  David  Hume  who  joined  us 
in  the  evening.* 

I  have  before,  I  believe,  given  some  account  of  them  all 
but  Robert  M'Pherson,  the  chaplain,  whom  I  had  not  known 
till  now.  Though  not  a  man  of  genius,  he  was  a  man  of 

*  Colonel  Alexander  Dow  is  known  as  the  translator  and  continuer  of  the 
Persian  History  of  Hindostan,  and  the  writer  of  Tales  from  the  Persian,  and 
of  another  tragedy  besides  his  Zingis,  called  Seihona.     The  editor  is  not 
aware,  however,  of  any  other  source  of  information  about  the  personal  ad 
ventures  referred  to  in  the  text.  —  ED. 
18 


410  ANECDOTES. 

good  sense,  of  a  firm  and  manly  mind,  and  of  much  worth 
and  honor.  He  was  a  younger  brother  of  M'Pherson  of 
Banchors,  a  man  near  the  head  of  the  clan  in  point  of  birth, 
but  not  of  a  large  fortune.  He  had  been  bred  at  Aberdeen 
for  the  Church,  but  before  he  passed  trials  as  a  probationer, 
he  had  been  offered  a  company  in  his  regiment  of  Highlanders 
by  Simon  Fraser,  and  had  accepted.  But  when  the  regi 
ment  rendezvoused  at  Greenock,  he  was  told,  with  many 
fair  speeches,  that  the  captains'  commissions  were  all  dis 
posed  of,  much  against  the  colonel's  will,  but  that  he  might 
have  a  lieutenancy,  or  the  chaplainry  if  he  liked  it  better. 
M'Pherson  chose  the  last,  and  took  orders  immediately  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Lochcarron,  where  he  returned  for  ten 
days.  He  soon  made  himself  acceptable  to  the  superiors  as 
well  as  to  the  men,  and  after  they  landed  in  Nova  Scotia,  in 
every  skirmish  or  battle  it  was  observed  that  he  always  put 
himself  on  a  line  with  the  officers  at  the  head  of  the  regi 
ment.  He  was  invited  to  the  mess  of  the  field  officers,  where 
he  continued.  On  hearing  this  from  General  Murray,  I  asked 
him  [M'Pherson]  if  it  was  true.  He  said  it  was.  How 
came  you  to  be  so  foolish  ?  He  answered,  that  being  a  grown 
man,  while  many  of  the  lieutenants  and  ensigns  were  but 
boys,  as  well  as  some  of  the  privates,  and  that  they  looked 
to  him  for  example  as  well  as  precept,  he  had  thought  it  his 
duty  to  advance  with  them,  but  that  he  had  discontinued  the 
practice  after  the  third  time  of  danger,  as  he  found  they 
were  perfectly  steady. 

Dining  with  him,  and  General  James  Murray  and  one  or 
two  more,  at  the  British  one  day,  I  put  him  on  telling  the 
story  of  the  mutiny  at  Quebec,  when  he  had  the  command 
after  the  death  of  Wolfe.  He  told  us  that  the  first  thing  he 
had  done  was  to  send  and  inquire  if  Mac  had  taken  advan 
tage  of  the  leave  he  had  given  him  to  sail  for  Britain  the  day 


ANECDOTES.  411 

before,  for  if  he  had  not  sailed,  there  would  have  been  no 
mutiny.  But  he  was  gone,  and  I  had  to  do  the  best  I  could 
without  him ;  and  so  he  went  on.  Not  being  certain  if  this 
anecdote  might  not  have  been  much  exaggerated,  according 
to  the  usual  style  of  the  windy  Murrays,  as  they  were  styled 
by  Jock  at  the  Horn,  I  asked  Mac,  when  the  company  parted, 
how  much  of  this  was  true  ?  He  answered,  that  though  the 
General  had  exceeded  a  little  in  his  compliments  to  him,  that 
it  was  so  far  true,  that  he,  being  the  only  Highland  chaplain 
there  —  he  of  Eraser's  regiment  having  gone  home  —  he  had 
so  much  to  say  with  both  of  them  that  he  could  have  per 
suaded  them  to  stand  by  their  officers  and  the  General,  in 
which,  if  those  two  regiments  had  joined,  they  would  have 
prevented  the  mutiny. 

One  anecdote  more  of  this  worthy  man,  and  I  shall  have 
done  with  him.  In  one  of  the  winters  in  which  he  was  at 
Quebec  he  had  provided  himself  in  a  wooden  house,  which  he 
had  furnished  well,  and  in  which  he  had  a  tolerable  soldier's 
library.  While  he  was  dining  one  day  with  the  mess,  his 
house  took  fire  and  was  burned  to  the  ground.  Next  morning 
the  two  sergeant-majors  of  the  two  Highland  regiments  came 
to  him,  and,  lamenting  the  great  loss  he  had  sustained,  told 
him  that  the  lads,  out  of  their  great  love  and  respect  for  him, 
had  collected  a  purse  of  four  hundred  guineas,  which  they 
begged  him  to  accept  of.  He  was  moved  by  their  generosity, 
and  by  and  by  answered,  "  That  he  was  never  so  much  grati 
fied  in  his  life  as  by  their  offer,  as  a  mark  of  kindness  and 
respect,  of  which  he  would  think  himself  entirely  unworthy  if 
he  could  rob  them  of  the  fruits  of  their  wise  and  prudent  fru 
gality  ; "  and  added,  "  that,  by  good  fortune,  he  had  no  need 
of  the  exertions  of  their  generosity."  The  annals  of  private 
men  I  have  often  thought  as  instructive  and  worthy  of  being 
recorded  as  those  of  their  superiors. 


412  GARRICK  AND   HOME. 

Having  formerly  given  some  account  of  James  M'Pherson 
and  Garrick,  I  shall  say  nothing  more  of  them  here,  but  that 
in  their  several  ways  they  were  very  good  company.  Garrick 
was  always  playsome,  good-humored,  and  willing  to  display  ; 
James  was  sensible,  shrewd,  and  sarcastic.  Dow  went  a 
second  time  out  to  India,  and  after  some  time  died  there. 

By  this  time  I  had  discovered  that  I  should  have  no  need 
to  go  to  Bath,  as  Mrs.  C.  had  fallen  with  child,  which  left  me 
sufficient  time  to  wait  even  for  the  very  slow  method  of  trans 
acting  Treasury  business,  which  made  me  sometimes  repent 
that  I  had  undertaken  it.  I  had  found  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot  at 
last,  who  both  encouraged  and  assisted  me.  I  had  also  met 
Mr.  Wedderburn,  who  was  not  then  in  the  line  of  doing  me 
much  service.  Mr.  Grey  Cooper,  who  had  been  brought  for 
ward  by  the  Honorable  Charles  Townshend,  and  was  then  a 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  frankly  gave  me  his  services.  But 
the  only  person  (except  Sir  G.  Elliot)  who  understood  me 
perfectly  was  Mr.  Jeremiah  Dyson.  He  had  been  two  years 
at  Edinburgh  -University  at  the  same  time  as  Akenside  and 
Monckly,  and  had  a  perfect  idea  of  the  constitution  of  the 
Church  of  Scotland  and  the  nature  and  state  of  the  livings 
of  the  clergy.  Of  him  I  expected  and  obtained  much  aid. 
Broderip,  secretary  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  on  whom  I  fre 
quently  called,  gave  me  good  words  but  little  aid. 

On  the  23d  of  this  month  I  went  with  John  Home  to  the 
first  night  of  his  tragedy  of  the  Fatal  Discovery,  which  went 
off  better  than  we  expected.  This  was  and  is  to  my  taste 
the  second-best  of  Home's  tragedies.  Garrick  had  been  justly 
alarmed  at  the  jealousy  and  dislike  which  prevailed  at  that 
time  against  Lord  Bute  and  the  Scotch,  and  had  advised  him 
to  change  the  title  of  Rivine  into  that  of  the  Fatal  Discovery, 
and  had  provided  a  student  of  Oxford,  who  had  appeared  at 
the  rehearsals  as  the  author,  and  wished  Home  of  all  things  to 


GARRICK  AND  HOME.  413 

remain  concealed  till  the  play  had  its  run.  But  John,  whose 
vanity  was  too  sanguine  to  admit  of  any  fear  or  caution,  and 
whose  appetite  for  praise  rebelled  against  the  counsel  that 
would  deprive  him  for  a  moment  of  his  fame,  too  soon  dis 
covered  the  secret,  and  though  the  play  survived  its  nine 
nights,  yet  the  house  evidently  slackened  after  the  town  heard 
that  John  was  the  author.  Home,  however,  in  his  way, 
ascribed  this  to  the  attention  of  the  public,  and  especially  of 
the  Scotch,  being  drawn  off  by  the  Douglas  Cause,  which  was 
decided  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  27th,  forgetting  that 
this  took  up  only  one  night,  and  that  any  slackness  derived 
from  that  cause  could  not  affect  other  nights. 

To  finish  my  account  of  this  play,  I  shall  add  here  that 
Garrick  still  continued  to  perform  it  on  the  most  convenient 
terms.  Mrs.  Carlyle,  John  Home,  and  I,  dined  with  Mr.  A. 
Wedderburn  at  his  house  in  Lincoln's-Inn  Fields,  and  went  to 
the  Fatal  Discovery  with  him  and  his  lady  and  his  brother, 
Colonel  David  Wedderburn,  when  we  were  all  perfectly  well 
pleased.  We  returned  with  them  to  supper,  Wedderburn 
having  continued  cordial  and  open  all  that  day ;  his  brother 
was  always  so. 

We  became  acquainted  with  my  wife's  uncle  and  aunt,  Mr. 
Laurie  and  Miss  Mary  Reed,  brother  and  sister  of  her  mother 
by  another  wife.  Mr.  Reed  was  a  mahogany  merchant  in 
Hatton  Wall,  a  very  worthy  and  honorable  man ;  and  his  sis 
ter,  whom  I  had  seen  once  or  twice  before  in  Berwick,  was  a 
handsome  and  elegant  woman,  though  now  turned  of  thirty, 
with  as  much  good  sense  and  breeding  as  any  person  we  met 
with.  Mr.  Reed  was  not  rich,  but  between  an  estate  of  £250, 
which  he  had  near  Alnwick,  and  his  business,  he  lived  in  a 
very  respectable  manner.  Their  mode  of  living  was  quite 
regulated,  for  they  saw  company  only  two  days  in  the  week  ; 
—  on  Thursday,  to  dinner,  when  you  met  a  few  friends,  chiefly 


4M  THE  DOUGLAS  CAUSE. 

from  Northumberland ;  and  here,  if  you  pleased,  you  might 
play  cards  and  stay  the  evening.  On  Sunday  evening  they 
likewise  saw  their  friends  to  tea  and  supper,  but  they  were 
too  old-fashioned  to  play  cards,  which  was  very  convenient  for 
me.  The  uncle  and  aunt  were  proud  of  their  niece,  as  they 
found  her,  in  point  of  conversation  and  manners,  at  least  equal 
to  any  of  their  guests ;  and  the  niece  was  proud  of  her  uncle 
and  aunt,  as  in  him  she  found  as  honest  a  man  as  Mr.  Bell, 
and  in  her  a  woman  who,  for  beauty  and  elegance,  could  cope 
with  my  sister,  who  was  not  surpassed  by  any  lady  in  the  city. 
Here  I  met  with  many  old  acquaintances,  and  made  some  new 
ones,  such  as  Sir  Evan  Nepean  and  his  lady,  then  only  in  their 
courtship,  and  A.  Collingwood,  a  clever  attorney,  said  to  be 
nearly  related  to  the  family  of  Unthank,  —  indeed,  a  natural 
son  of  my  wife's  grandfather.  To  this  very  agreeable  place 
we  resorted  often ;  and  when  I  came  the  next  year  alone,  I 
availed  myself  of  it,  especially  on  Sunday  nights. 

I  was  much  indebted  to  my  hospitable  friend,  Dr.  Blair  of 
Westminster,  at  whose  house  also  I  met  with  sundry  people 
whose  acquaintance  I  cultivated.  On  the  26th  of  this  month 
I  met  him  at  Court,  after  having  attended  service  in  the 
Chapel  Royal  and  in  the  chaplain's  seat,  and  was  by  him 
introduced  in  the  drawing-room  to  Lord  Bathurst,  then  very 
old,  but  extremely  agreeable;  Dr.  Barton,  Dean  of  Bristol, 
Rector  of  St.  Andrew,  Holborn,  &c.,  and  to  Dr.  Tucker, 
Dean  of  Gloucester,  —  very  excellent  people,  whose  acquaint 
ance  I  very  much  valued.* 

On  the  27th  I  attended  the  House  of  Peers  on  the  Doug 
las  Cause.  The  Duke  of  B[uccleuch]  had  promised  to  carry 
me  down  to  the  house ;  but  as  I  was  going  into  Grosvenor 
Square  to  meet  him  at  ten  o'clock,  I  met  the  Duke  of  Mon- 

*  Josiah  Tucker,  whose  works  on  Trade  anticipated  some  of  the  estab 
lished  doctrines  on  political  economy.  —  ED. 


THE  DOUGLAS  CAUSE.  415 

tague,  who  was  coming  from  his  house,  and  took  me  into  his 
chariot,  saying  that  the  Duke  of  B.  was  not  yet  ready.  He 
put  me  in  by  the  side  of  the  throne,  where  I  found  two  or 
three  of  my  friends,  among  them  Thomas  Bell.  The  busi 
ness  did  not  begin  till  eleven,  and  from  that  time  I  stood,  with 
now  and  then  a  lean  on  the  edge  of  a  deal  board,  till  nine  in 
the  evening,  without  any  refreshment  but  a  small  roll  and  two 
oranges.  The  heat  of  the  house  was  chiefly  oppressive,  and 
Lord  Sandwich's  speech,  which,  though  learned  and  able,  yet 
being  three  hours  long,  was  very  intolerable.  The  Duke  of 
Bedford  spoke  low,  but  not  half  an  hour.  The  Chancellor 
and  Lord  Mansfield  united  on  the  side  of  Douglas ;  each  of 
them  spoke  above  an  hour.  Andrew  Stuart,  whom  I  saw  in 
the  House,  sitting  on  the  left  side  of  the  throne,  seemed  to  be 
much  affected  at  a  part  of  Lord  Camden's  speech,  in  which 
he  reflected  on  him,  and  immediately  left  the  House ;  from 
whence  I  concluded  that  he  was  in  despair  of  success.  Lord 
Mansfield,  overcome  with  heat,  was  about  to  faint  in  the  mid 
dle  of  his  speech,  and  was  obliged  to  stop.  The  side-doors 
were  immediately  thrown  open,  and  the  Chancellor  rushing 
out,  returned  soon  with  a  servant,  who  followed  him  with 
a  bottle  and  glasses.  Lord  Mansfield  drank  two  glasses 
of  the  wine,  and  after  some  time  revived,  and  proceeded  in 
his  speech.  We,  who  had  no  wine,  were  nearly  as  much 
recruited  by  the  fresh  air  which  rushed  in  at  the  open  doors  as 
his  Lordship  by  the  wine.  About  nine  the  business  ended  in 
favor  of  Douglas,  there  being  only  five  Peers  on  the  other 
side.  I  was  well  pleased  with  that  decision,  as  I  had  favored 
that  side :  Professor  Ferguson  and  I  being  the  only  two  of 
our  set  of  people  who  favored  Douglas,  chiefly  on  the  opinion 
that,  if  the  proof  of  filiation  on  his  part  was  not  sustained, 
the  whole  system  of  evidence  in  such  cases  would  be  over 
turned,  and  a  door  be  opened  for  endless  disputes  about  sue- 


416  BATH  HOUSE. 

cession.  I  had  asked  the  Duke  of  B.,  some  days  before  the 
decision,  how  it  would  go  ;  he  said  that  if  the  Law  Lords 
disagreed,  there  was  no  saying  how  it  would  go ;  because  the 
Peers,  however  imperfectly  prepared  to  judge,  would  follow 
the  Judge  they  most  respected.  But  if  they  united,  the  case 
would  be  determined  by  their  opinion ;  it  being  [the  prac 
tice]  in  their  House  to  support  the  Law  Lords  in  all  judi 
cial  cases. 

After  the  decision,  I  persuaded  my  friends,  as  there  was  no 
coach  to  be  had,  not  to  attempt  rushing  into  any  of  the  neigh 
boring  taverns,  but  to  follow  me  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  in 
the  Strand,  where  we  arrived,  Thos.  Bell,  Alderman  Crichton, 
Robert  Bogle,  junior,  and  I,  in  time  enough  to  get  into  a  snug 
room,  where  we  wrote  some  letters  for  Scotland,  the  post  then 
not  departing  till  twelve  ;  and  after  a  good  supper,  Bell  and  I 
got  home  to  Aldermanbury  about  one  o'clock,  where  our  wives 
were  waiting,  though  not  uninformed  of  the  event,  as  I  had 
despatched  a  porter  with  a  note  to  them  immediately  on  our 
arrival  in  the  tavern. 

The  rejoicings  in  Scotland  were  very  great  on  this  occasion, 
and  even  outrageous :  although  the  Douglas  family  had  been 
long  in  obscurity,  yet  the  Hamiltons  had  for  a  long  period  lost 
their  popularity.  The  attachment  which  all  their  acquaint 
ances  had  to  Baron  Mure,  who  was  the  original  author  of 
this  suit,  and  to  Andrew  Stuart,  who  carried  it  on,  swayed 
their  minds  very  much  their  way.  They  were  men  of  un 
common  good  sense  and  probity.* 

Mrs.  Pulteney  being  still  living,  we  had  a  fine  dinner  at 

*  Andrew  Stuart,  often  mentioned  by  Carlyle,  had  devoted  the  whole 
energies  and  prospects  of  his  life  to  the  Hamilton  side  of  the  cause.  He 
challenged  Thurlow,  the  leading  counsel  on  the  opposite  side,  and  they 
fought.  His  bitter  "  Letters  to  Lord  Mansfield  "  have  often  been  read,  like 
those  of  Junius,  as  a  model  of  polished  vituperation.  —  Er>. 


ANECDOTES.  417 

Bath  House,  after  which,  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  I  paid  an  evening 
visit  to  Mrs.  Montague.  Pulteney  at  this  time  had  fallen 
much  under  the  influence  of  General  Robert  Clerk,  whom 
I  have  mentioned  before.  I  happened  to  ask  him  when  he 
had  seen  Clerk ;  he  answered  he  saw  him  every  day,  and  as 
he  had  not  been  there  yet,  he  might  probably  pay  his  visit 
before  ten  o'clock,  and  then  enlarged  for  some  time  on  his 
great  ability.  Clerk  had  subdued  Pulteney  by  persuading 
him  that  there  was  not  a  man  in  England  fit  to  be  Chancellor 
of  Exchequer  but  himself.  Mrs.  Pulteney's  good  sense,  how 
ever,  defeated  the  effect  of  this  influence.  Pulteney  was 
unfortunate  in  not  taking  for  his  private  secretary  and  confi 
dential  friend  Dr.  John  Douglas,  who  had  stood  in  that  rela 
tion  to  the  late  Lord  Bath,  and  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  in 
England.  But  on  Pulteney's  succession  he  found  himself 
neglected,  and  drew  off.  Clerk  came  at  ten,  as  Pulteney  had 
foretold,  and  I  saw  how  the  land  lay. 

On  this  first  mission  to  London  I  was  much  obliged  to  Sir 
Alexander  Gilmour,  who  was  a  friend  of  the  Duke  of  Graf- 
ton's.  He  knew  everybody,  and  introduced  me  to  everybody. 
One  day  he  carried  me  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
(Cornwallis),  who  received  me  graciously ;  in  short,  I  called 
on  all  the  Scotch  noblemen  and  Members  of  Parliament,  many 
of  whom  I  saw,  and  left  memorials  at  every  house  where  I 
called.  Lord  Frederick  Campbell  was  particularly  obliging. 
At  this  time  I  dined  one  day  with  Sir  A.  Gilmour  on  a  Sun 
day,  after  having  been  at  Court ;  General  Graham  and  Pul 
teney,  and  Colonel  Riccart  Hepburn,  dined  there.  In  the 
conversation  there,  to  my  surprise  I  found  [Graham]  talking 
strongly  against  Administration  for  not  advising  the  King  to 
yield  to  the  popular  cry.  Gilmour  opposed  him  with  violence, 
and  I  drew  an  inference,  which  proved  true,  that  he  had  been 
tampering  with  her  Majesty,  and  using  political  freedoms, 
18*  AA 


418  LORD  MANSFIELD. 

« 

which  were  not,  long  afterwards,  the  cause  of  his  disgrace. 
Graham  was  a  shrewd  and  sensible  man,  but  the  Queen's 
favor  and  his  prosperity  had  made  him  arrogant  and  presump 
tuous,  and  he  blew  himself  up.*  Not  long  after  this  time  he 
lost  his  office  near  the  Queen,  and  retired  into  obscurity  in 
Scotland  for  the  rest  of  his  days. 

My  connection  with  physicians  made  me  a  member  of  two 
of  their  clubs,  which  I  seldom  missed.  One  of  them  was  at 
the  Horn  Tavern  in  Fleet  Street,  where  they  had  laid  before 
them  original  papers  relating  to  their  own  science,  and  had 
published  a  volume  or  two  of  Essays,  which  were  well  received. 
Armstrong,  who  took  no  share  in  the  business  generally,  ar 
rived  when  I  did,  about  eight  o'clock ;  and  as  they  had  a  great 
deference  for  him,  and  as  he  was  whimsical,  they  delayed  be 
speaking  supper  till  he  came,  and  then  laid  that  duty  on  him. 
He  in  complaisance  wished  to  turn  it  over  on  me,  as  the  great 
est,  or  rather  the  only  stranger,  for  I  was  admitted  speciali 
gratia  ;  but  I  declined  the  office.  The  conversation  was  lively 
and  agreeable,  and  we  parted  always  at  twelve.  There  was 
another  club  held  on  the  alternate  Thursday  at  the  Queen's 
Head  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  which  was  not  confined  to 
physicians,  but  included  men  of  other  professions.  Strange  the 
engraver  was  one,  a  very  sensible,  ingenious,  and  modest  man. 

In  the  course  of  my  operations  about  the  window-tax,  I  had 
frequently  short  interviews  with  Lord  Mansfield.  One  day  he 
sent  for  me  to  breakfast,  when  I  had  a  long  conversation  with 
him  on  various  subjects.  Amongst  others,  he  talked  of  Hume 
and  Robertson's  Histories,  and  said  that  though  they  had 

*  This  is  probably  the  u  Colonel  Graeme  "  who,  according  to  Walpole 
(who  says  he  was  a  notorious  Jacobite,  and  out  in  the  '45),  negotiated  the 
marriage  of  George  III.,  having  been  "  despatched  in  the  most  private 
manner  as  a  traveller,  and  invested  with  no  character,  to  visit  various 
little  Prbtestant  courts,  and  make  report  of  the  qualifications  of  the  sev 
eral  unmarried  princesses."  —  See  Mem.  of  Geo.  III.,  ch.  v.  —  ED. 


BISHOP  JERRICK.  419 

pleased  and  instructed  him  much,  and  though  he  could  point 
out  few  or  no  faults  in  them,  yet,  when  he  was  reading  their 
books,  he  did  not  think  he  was  reading  English :  could  I  ac 
count  to  him  how  that  happened  ?  I  answered  that  the  same 
objection  had  not  occurred  to  me,  who  was  a  Scotchman  bred 
as  well  as  born  ;  but  that  I  had  a  solution  to  it,  which  I  would 
submit  to  his  Lordship.  It  was,  that  to  every  man  bred  in 
Scotland  the  English  language  was  in  some  respects  a  foreign 
tongue,  the  precise  value  and  force  of  whose  words  and  phrases 
he  did  not  understand,  and  therefore  was  continually  endeavor 
ing  to  word  his  expressions  by  additional  epithets  or  circumlo 
cutions,  which  made  his  writings  appear  both  stiff  and  redun 
dant.  With  this  solution  his  Lordship  appeared  entirely 
satisfied.  By  this  time  his  Lordship  perfectly  understood  the 
nature  of  our  claim  to  exemption  from  the  window-tax,  and 
promised  me  his  aid,  and  suggested  some  new  arguments  in 
our  favor. 

I  made  a  very  valuable  acquaintance  in  the  Bishop  of  Lon 
don,  K.  Jerrick,  having  been  introduced  to  him  by  his  son-in- 
law,  Dr.  Anthony  Hamilton,  whom  I  met  at  Dr.  Pitcairn's. 
I  found  the  Bishop  to  be  a  truly  excellent  man,  of  a  liberal 
mind  and  excellent  good  temper.  He  took  to  me,  and  was 
very  cordial  in  wishing  success  to  my  application,  and  was 
very  friendly  in  recommending  me  and  it  to  his  brethren  on 
the  bench.  He  never  refused  me  admittance,  and  I  dined 
frequently  with  him  this  year  and  the  next.  He  was  then 
considered  as  having  the  sole  episcopal  jurisdiction  over  the 
Church  of  England  in  America.  He  was  so  obliging  to  my 
requests  that  he  ordained,  at  my  desire,  two  Scotch  probation 
ers,  who,  having  little  chance  of  obtaining  settlements  here, 
were  glad  to  try  their  fortune  in  a  new  world.  As  I  was  un 
willing  to  forfeit  my  credit  with  this  good  man,  I  had  not  rec 
ommended  them  but  with  perfect  assurance  of  their  good 


420  ANECDOTES  AND   CHARACTERS. 

characters.  The  first,  whom  I  think  he  had  sent  to  Bermu 
das,  he  gave  me  thanks  for  when  I  saw  him  a  year  after,  as, 
he  told  me,  he  had  fully  answered  the  character  I  had  given 
him.  He  [the  Bishop]  was  a  famous  good  preacher,  and  the 
best  reader  of  prayers  I  ever  heard.  Being  Dean  of  the 
Chapel-Royal,  he  read  the  communion-service  every  Sunday. 
Though  our  residence  was  at  my  sister's  in  Aldermanbury,  as 
I  had  occasion  frequently  to  dine  late  in  the  west  end  of  the 
town,  I  then  lodged  in  New  Bond  Street  with  my  aunt,  and 
resorted  often  at  supper  to  Robert  Adam's,  whose  sisters  were 
very  agreeable,  and  where  we  had  the  latest  news  from  the 
House  of  Commons,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  which 
he  told  us  in  the  most  agreeable  manner,  and  with  very  lively 
comments. 

My  good  aunt  Paterson's  husband,  a  cousin  of  Sir  Hew 
Paterson,  took  care  to  have  us  visit  his  son's  widow,  Mrs. 
Seton,  the  heiress  of  Touch,  whose  first  husband  was  Sir 
Hew's  son,  who  had  died  without  issue.  There  we  dined  one 
day  with  a  large  company,  mostly  Scots,  among  whom  were 
Mrs.  Walkinshaw  —  who  had  a  place  at  court,  though  she 
was  sister  of  the  lady  who  was  said  to  be  mistress  to  Prince 
Charles,  the  Pretender's  son  —  and  David  Hume,  by  that  time 
Under-Secretary  of  State.  The  conversation  was  lively  and 
agreeable,  but  we  were  much  amused  with  observing  how 
much  the  thoughts  and  conversation  of  all  those  in  the  least 
connected  were  taken  up  with  every  trifling  circumstance  that 
related  to  the  Court.  This  kind  of  tittle-tattle  suited  Dr.  John 
Blair  of  all  men,  who  had  been  a  tutor  to  the  King's  brother, 
the  Duke  of  York,  and  now  occasionally  assisted  Dr.  Barton 
as  Clerk  of  the  Closet  to  the  Princess  Dowager  of  Wales.  It 
was  truly  amusing  to  observe  how  much  David  Hume's  strong 
and  capacious  mind  was  filled  with  infantine  anecdotes  of 
nurses  and  children.  Mr.  Seton  was  the  son  of  a  Mr.  Smith, 


ENGLISH  DISSENTING  PARSONS.  421 

who  had  been  settled  at  Boulogne,  a  wine  merchant,  was  a 
great  Jacobite,  and  had  come  to  Scotland  in  the  time  of  the 
Rebellion,  1745.  Poor  Mrs.  Seton,  whose  first  husband, 
Paterson,  was,  by  his  mother,  a  nephew  of  the  Earl  of  Mar, 
had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  that  prejudice,  for  Seton  possessed  no 
other  charm.  I  call  her  a  sacrifice,  because  his  bad  usage 
shortened  her  days.  She  was  a  very  amiable  woman.  His 
future  history  is  well  known.* 

At  this  time  we  had  a  dinner  from  Dr.  Gartshore,  whose 
wife,  the  heiress  of  Rusco,  in  Galloway,  was  my  cousin.| 
Besides  Drs.  Blair  and  Dickson,  there  were  several  dissenting 
parsons,  such  as  Drs.  Price,  Kippis,  and  Alexander,  who  were 
very  bad  company  indeed,  for  they  were  fiery  republicans  and 
Wilkites,  and  very  pedantic,  petulant,  and  peremptory.  Blair 
and  I,  however,  with  the  help  of  Dickson,  kept  them  very 
well  down.  Gartshore  himself  acted  the  part  of  umpire, 
with  a  leaning  to  their  side,  as  they  had  an  ascendant  over 
many  of  his  patients. 

John  Home,  who  was  very  obliging  to  us,  when  I  was  at 
liberty,  in  the  middle  of  April,  went  with  Mrs.  Carlyle  and 
me  to  see  Hampton  Court  and  Windsor.  After  we  had  seen 
the  first,  we  went  and  showed  Mrs.  Carlyle  Garrick's  villa  in 
Hampton  Town,  which  she  was  highly  pleased  with.  The 
family  had  not  yet  returned  to  the  country.  We  went  all 
night  to  Windsor.  In  the  morning  we  called  on  Dr.  Douglas 
and  his  lady,  a  granddaughter  of  Sir  George  Rooke,  of 
Queen  Anne's  reign,  then  in  residence.  He  engaged  us  to 

*  Archibald  Seton  successively  filled  several  high  offices  in  the  Indian 
service,  and  died  in  1818. —  Gentleman's  Magazine,  vol.  Ixxxviii.  p.  184. 
The  mansion  of  Touch,  long  the  abode  of  one  of  the  old  Seton  families,  is  a 
venerable  square  tower,  with  later  adjuncts,  on  the  slope  of  the  Gargunnock 
dills,  about  three  miles  from  Stirling  —  ED. 

t  Dr.  Maxwell  Gartshore,  a  native  of  Kirkcudbrightshire,  died  after  a 
'ong  and  successful  professional  career  in  London,  in  1812.  —  ED. 


422  CONVERSATION  AT  MRS.  MONTAGUE'S. 

dine  with  him.  We  went  to  church  and  heard  him  preach 
an  excellent  sermon,  though  ill  delivered.  His  conversation 
was  always  instructive  and  agreeable.  He  had  a  greater 
number  of  anecdotes,  and  told  them  more  correctly,  than  any 
man  I  ever  knew.  In  going  through  his  library,  which  was 
pretty  full  of  books,  he  selected  one  small  elegant  French 
novel,  and  gave  it  as  a  keepsake  to  Mrs.  Carlyle,  which  she 
and  I  were  much  pleased  with,  as  a  token  of  regard. 

We  had  passed  one  day  with  Mrs.  Montague  by  invitation, 
which  did  not  please  us  much,  as  the  conversation  was  all 
preconceived,  and  resembled  the  rehearsal  of  a  comedy  more 
than  the  true  and  unaffected  dialogue  which  conveys  the 
unaffected  and  unstudied  sentiments  of  the  heart.  What  a 
pity  it  was  that  she  could  not  help  acting ;  and  the  woman 
would  have  been  respectable  had  she  not  been  so  passion 
ately  desirous  of  respect,  for  she  had  good  parts,  and  must 
have  had  many  allurements  when  she  was  young  and  beau 
tiful.* 

John  Home  went  with  us  to  see  Sion  House,  the  inside 
of  which  had  been  most  beautifully  adorned  by  Robert  Adam. 
We  dined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barry,  who  had  been  old  friends 
of  John's,  and  Barry  had  been  his  military  companion  at 
Falkirk,  and  escaped  with  him  from  Doune  Castle.  John 
was  much  attached  to  him,  and  he  deserved  it.  His  wife  was 
very  amiable.  There  dined  with  us  M'Pherson  and  Blair, 
besides  Home.  Our  stay  in  London  drew  to  a  close,  and 
having  obtained  all  I  expected  from  the  Treasury,  which  was 
encouragement  to  apply  to  Parliament  next  year,  I  made 
haste  to  show  Mrs.  Carlyle  what  she  had  not  seen. 

We  went  to  Greenwich  in  the  morning,  and  the  same  day 
dined  again  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seton,  and  supped  with  ray 
old  friend,  Lady  Lindores. 

*  See  above,  p.  374.  —  ED. 


JOUKNEY  NORTHWARDS.  42 3 

I  sat  to  Martin  for  the  large  picture  that  went  next  year 
into  the  Exhibition  :  this  was  for  the  third  time.  Another 
sitting  in  January  thereafter  did  the  business.  We  went  to 
the  opera  with  my  sister.  We  stayed  for  our  last  fortnight  at 
my  aunt's,  as  my  business  at  the  Treasury  made  it  more 
convenient,  and  my  wife  had  to  make  all  her  farewell  visits. 
She  had  not  seen  Garrick,  who  was  at  last  to  play  for  three 
nights.  With  difficulty  and  bribery  we  got  places ;  but  Mrs. 
C.  felt  sick,  and  we  were  obliged  to  leave  it  in  the  middle. 
We  went  to  see  Westminster  Abbey,  and  dined  with  our  kind 
friends,  the  Blairs,  who  had  engaged  us.  My  sister  being 
now  gone  to  Merton  with  her  children,  we  took  aunt  and 
passed  a  day  there.  On  the  last  day  we  went  into  the  city, 
and  took  leave,  and  dined  at  uncle  Reed's. 

We  dined  on  the  25th  April  at  the  Brand's  Head  with 
some  friends,  and  set  out  on  our  journey  northwards  at  five 
in  the  evening.  Mr.  Home  had  got  a  partner,  a  young  man 
of  the  name  of  Douglas,  going  to  Berwick.  This  lad  being 
fantastic  and  vain,  because  he  had  an  uncle  who  was  under- 
doorkeeper  to  the  House  of  Commons,  diverted  us  much.  To 
enjoy  him,  Home  and  I  took  him  stage  about.  My  wife  was 
delighted  with  him  in  the  inns,  but  she  did  not  choose  him  to 
go  in  the  chaise  with  her,  as  she  was  at  this  time  apt  to  be 
sick.  My  wife's  condition  made  me  resolve  to  travel  slow, 
though  we  were  to  halt  some  time  at  Newcastle. 

We  had  agreed,  for  my  wife's  amusement  and  our  own,  to 
take  the  middle  road,  and  go  down  by  Northampton  and  Not 
tingham,  where  we  had  never  been ;  and  were  much  amused 
with  the  beauty  of  the  country,  and  the  variety  of  its  scenery. 
When  we  came  to  Nottingham,  however,  as  the  road  was 
rough,  which  did  not  suit  Mrs.  Carlyle's  present  condition, 
and  the  houses  and  horses  inferior,  [we  thought]  it  would  be 
better  to  turn  into  the  east  road  again,  and  make  the  best  of 


424  JOHN  HOME  AND  HIS  WIFE. 

our  way  to  Doncaster.  When  we  drew  near  that  place,  Mrs. 
Carlyle  found  out  that  we  had  changed  our  route,  and  was 
well  pleased.  We  had  come  by  Mansfield  and  Welbecks  (the 
Duke  of  Portland's),  and  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  places  well 
worth  seeing.  The  road  goes  through  the  trunk  of  a  famous 
oak-tree.  The  woods  in  that  part  of  the  forest  of  Willingham 
are  very  fine,  and  the  oaks  are  remarkably  large.  We  ar 
rived  at  Wallsend,  a  very  delightful  village  about  four  miles 
below  Newcastle,  on  the  road  to  Shields,  where  Mr.  Blackett 
had  a  very  agreeable  house  for  the  summer.  There  were 
other  two  gentlemen's  houses  of  good  fortune  in  the  village, 
with  a  church  and  a  parsonage-house.  Next  day,  the  1st  of 
May,  was  so  very  warm  that  I  with  difficulty  was  able  to 
walk  down  to  the  church  in  the  bottom  of  the  village,  not 
more  than  two  hundred  yards  distant. 

Mary  Home,  a  cousin-german  of  Mrs.  Blackett's  and  my 
wife's,  was  residing  here  at  this  time,  and  had  been  for  several 
months  at  Newcastle.  This  was  the  young  lady  whom  John 
Home  married,  who  was  then  a  pretty  lively  girl,  and  reck 
oned  very  like  Queen  Charlotte.  She  unfortunately  had  bad 
health,  which  continued  even  to  this  day ;  for  she  is  now  sixty- 
seven,  and  is  still  very  frail,  though  better  than  she  has  been 
for  several  years.  It  was  in  some  respects  an  unlucky  mar 
riage,  for  she  had  no  children.  Lord  Haddington,  however, 
said  she  was  a  very  good  wife  for  a  poet ;  and  Lady  Milton 
having  asked  me  what  made  John  marry  such  a  sickly  girl,  I 
answered  that  I  supposed  it  was  because  he  was  in  love  with 
her.  She  replied,  "  No,  no ;  it  was  because  she  was  in  love 
with  him." 

We  stayed  here  for  eight  or  ten  days,  and  visited  all  the 
neighbors,  who  were  all  very  agreeable,  even  the  clergyman's 
wife,  who  was  a  little  lightsome ;  but  as  her  head  ran  much 
on  fine  clothes,  which  she  could  not  purchase  to  plcas'e  her, 


AN  EQUESTRIAN  ACCIDENT.  425 

but  only  cou!4  imitate  in  the  most  tawdry  manner,  she  was 
rather  amusing  to  Mrs.  B.,  who  had  a  good  deal  of  humor, — 
more  than  her  sister,  who  had  a  sharper  wit  and  more  discern 
ment.  The  husband  was  a  very  good  sort  of  man,  and  very 
worthy  of  his  office,  but  oppressed  with  family  cares.  Mr. 
Potter,  I  think,  was  an  Oxonian. 

We  did  not  fail  to  visit  our  good  friend  Mr.  Collingwood 
of  Chirton,  and  his  lady,  Mary  Rocldam,  of  both  of  whom  my 
wife  was  a  favorite.  We  went  down  together  to  Berwickshire 
in  the  middle  of  May,  where  we  remained  some  days  at  Fogo 
Manse,  the  Rev.  Mr.  William  Home's,  where,  leaving  John 
with  his  bride,  we  came  on  to  Musselburgh  about  the  27th  of 
May,  near  the  end  of  the  General  Assembly. 

I  had  been  persuaded  to  buy  a  young  horse  from  a  farmer 
near  Mr.  Home's,  an  awkward  enough  beast,  but  only  four 
years  old,  which,  if  he  did  not  do  for  a  riding-horse,  might  be 
trained  to  the  plough,  for  I  had,  at  the  preceding  Martinmas, 
entered  on  a  farm  of  one  hundred  acres  of  the  Duke  of  Buc- 
cleuch's.  On  the  Saturday  morning  after  I  came  home,  I  un 
fortunately  mounted  this  beast,  who  ran  away  with  me  in  my 
green  before  the  door,  and  was  in  danger  of  throwing  me  on 
the  railing  that  was  put  up  to  defend  a  young  hedge.  To 
shun  this  I  threw  myself  off  on  the  opposite  side,  in  sight  of 
my  wife  and  children.  I  was  much  stunned,  and  could  not  get 
up  immediately,  but  luckily,  before  she  could  reach  the  place, 
I  had  raised  myself  to  my  breech,  otherwise  I  did  not  know 
what  might  have  befallen  her  in  the  condition  she  was  in. 
No  harm,  however,  happened  to  her ;  and  the  new  surgeon 
who  had  come  in  our  absence,  a  John  Steward  or  Stewart,  a 
Northumbrian,  an  apprentice  of  Sandy  Wood's,  was  sent  for 
to  bleed  me.  I  would  not  be  bled,  however,  till  I  had  made 
my  report  on  the  window-lights  ready  for  the  General  Assem 
bly,  which  was  to  be  dissolved  on  Monday,  lest  I  should  not 


426  DOMESTIC  SORROWS. 

be  able  to  write  after  being  bled,  or  not  to  attend  the  Assem 
bly  on  Monday.  But  it  so  happened  that  I  was  little  disabled 
by  my  fall,  and  could  even  preach  next  day. 

When  we  returned  from  the  south,  we  were  happy  to  find 
our  two  fine  girls  in  such  good  health ;  but  my  mother,  and 
unmarried  sister  Sarah,  had  lived  for  some  time  close  by  us, 
and  saw  them  twice  every  day.  Sarah,  the  eldest,  was  now 
eight  years  of  age,  and  had  displayed  great  sweetness  of  tem 
per,  with  an  uncommon  degree  of  sagacity.  Jenny,  the  second, 
was  now  six,  and  was  gay  and  lively  and  engaging  to  the  last 
degree.  They  were  both  handsome  in  their  several  kinds,  the 
first  like  me  and  my  family,  the  second  like  their  mother. 
They  already  had  made  great  proficiency  in  writing  and  arith 
metic,  and  were  remarkably  good  dancers.  At  this  time  they 
betrayed  no  symptoms  of  that  fatal  disease  which  robbed  me 
of  them,  unless  it  might  have  been  predicted  from  their  ex 
treme  sensibilities  of  taste  and  affection  which  they  already 
displayed.  It  was  the  will  of  Heaven  that  I  should  lose  them 
too  soon.  But  to  reflect  on  their  promising  qualities  ever 
since  has  been  the  delight  of  many  a  watchful  night  and  mel 
ancholy  day.  I  lost  them  before  they  had  given  me  any  emo 
tions  but  those  of  joy  and  hope. 

On  the  25th  of  September  this  year,  Mrs.  Carlyle  was  de 
livered  of  her  third  daughter,  Mary  Roddam,  and  recovered 
very  well.  But  the  child  was  unhealthy  from  her  birth,  and 
gave  her  mother  the  greatest  anxiety.  She  continued  to  live 
till  June,  1773,  when  she  was  relieved  from  a  life  of  constant 
pain.  In  November  llth  that  year  she  had  her  son  William, 
who  was  very  healthy  and  promising  till  within  six  or  eight 
weeks  of  his  death,  when  he  was  seized  with  a  peripneumony, 
which  left  such  a  weakness  on  his  lungs  as  soon  closed  his 
days. 

On  Monday  I  went  to  Edinburgh,  and  rendered  an  account 


THE  ILL-USED   CLERGY.  427 

of  my  mission  at  the  bar  of  the  General  Assembly.  I  re 
ceived  the  thanks  of  the  General  Assembly  for  my  care  and 
diligence  in  the  management  of  this  business,  and  at  the  same 
time  was  appointed  by  the  Assembly  their  commissioner,  with 
full  powers  to  apply  to  next  session  of  Parliament  for  an  ex 
emption  from  the  window-tax,  to  be  at  the  same  time  under 
the  direction  of  a  committee  of  Assembly,  which  was  revived, 
with  additions.  This  first  success  made  me  very  popular 
among  the  clergy,  of  whom  one  half  at  least  looked  upon  me 
with  an  ill  eye  after  the  affair  of  the  tragedy  of  Douglas. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  exemption  from  that  tax  was  a  very 
great  object  to  the  clergy,  whose  stipends  were  in  general  very 
small,  and  besides,  was  opposing  in  the  beginning  any  design 
there  might  be  to  lay  still  heavier  burdens  on  the  clergy,  who, 
having  only  stipends  out  of  the  tithes  allocated,  together  with 
small  glebes  and  a  suitable  manse  and  offices  free  of  all  taxes 
and  public  burdens,  would  have  been  quite  undone  had  they 
been  obliged  to  pay  all  that  has  since  been  laid  on  houses  and 
windows. 

For  as  much  use  as  the  clergy  were  at  the  Reformation, 
and  for  as  much  as  they  contributed  to  the  Revolution,  and  to 
preserve  the  peace  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  country 
since  that  period,  the  aristocracy  of  Scotland  have  always 
been  backward  to  mend  their  situation,  which,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  manly  system  of  the  President  (Islay  Campbell),  must 
have  fallen  into  distress  and  contempt.  As  it  is,  their  sti 
pends  keep  no  pace  with  the  rising  prosperity  of  the  country, 
and  they  are  degraded  in  their  rank  by  the  increasing  wealth 
of  the  inferior  orders.  Had  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  Scot 
land  enlargement  of  mind  and  extensive  views,  they  would 
now,  for  the  security  of  the  constitution,  ingraft  the  clergy 
into  the  State,  as  they  have  always  been  in  England,  and  by 
imparting  all  the  privileges  of  freeholders,  except  that  of 


428  THE  ILL-USED   CLERGY. 

being  members  of  Parliament,  on  their  livings,  they  would 
attach  them  still  more  than  ever  to  their  country ;  they  would 
widen  the  basis  of  the  constitution,  which  is  far  too  narrow, 
without  lessening  their  own  importance  in  the  smallest  degree, 
for  there  could  be  no  combination  of  the  clergy  against  their 
heritors  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  would  be  universally  disposed 
to  unite  with  their  heritors,  if  they  behaved  well  to  them  in 
all  political  business  ;  but  I  know  very  few  people  capable  of 
thinking  in  this  train,  and  far  less  of  acting  on  so  large  and 
liberal  a  plan.  In  the  mean  time,  on  account  of  many  unfor 
tunate  circumstances,  one  of  which  is,  that  patrons,  now  that 
by  help  of  the  Moderate  interest,  as  it  is  called,  there  is  no 
opposition  to  their  presentations,  have  restored  to  them  that 
right  they  so  long  claimed,  and  for  most  part  give  them  the 
man  they  like  best ;  that  is  to  say,  the  least  capable,  and  com 
monly  the  least  worthy,  of  all  the  probationers  in  their  neigh 
borhood.*  The  unfitness  of  one  of  the  professors  of  divinity, 
and  the  influence  he  has  in  providing  for  young  men  of  his 
own  fanatical  cast,  increases  this  evil  not  a  little,  and  acceler 
ates  the  degradation  of  the  clergy.  His  cousin,  Sir  James  H. 
Blair,  never  repented  so  much  of  anything  as  the  placing  him 
in  that  chair,  as  he  soon  discovered  the  disadvantage  to  the 
Church  that  might  [arise]  from  his  being  put  in  that  situation. 
It  is  a  pity  that  a  man  so  irreproachable  in  his  life  and  man 
ner,  and  eVen  distinguished  for  his  candor  and  fairness,  should 
be  so  weak ;  but  he  does  more  harm  than  if  he  were  an 
intriguing  hypocrite. 

During  the  summer  1769,  after  I  had  given  the  clergy  such 
hopes  of  being  relieved  from  the  window-tax,  they  set  about 
a  subscription  (the  funds  of  the  Church  being  quite  inade 
quate  at  any  time,  and  then  very  low)  for  defraying  the  ex 
pense  of  their  commissioner,  and  of  procuring  an  Act  of  Par- 

*  The  sentence  seems  incomplete,  but  sic  in  MS.  —  ED. 


RETURN  TO  LONDON.  429 

liament.  Nearly  two  thirds  of  the  clergy  had  subscribed  to 
this  fund,  for  a  sum  of  about  £400  was  subscribed,  if  I 
remember  right,  by  subscriptions  from  five  shillings  to  one 
guinea,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  George  Wishart,  then 
Principal  Clerk  of  the  Church. 

Mrs.  C.  having  recovered  from  her  late  inlying,  I  now  pre 
pared  to  go  to  London  to  follow  out  the  object  of  my  com 
mission  ;  and  lest  I  should  be  too  late,  I  set  out  in  such  time 
as  to  arrive  in  London  on  the  21st  of  December.  I  had  a 
Major  Paul  as  my  companion  in  the  chaise,  and  though  we 
tooK  live  days  to  it,  the  expense  in  those  days  was  no  more 
than  £  10,  85.  Id.  As  my  business  lay  entirely  in  the  west 
end  of  the  town,  I  took  up  my  lodging  in  New  Bond  Street, 
and  engaged  the  other  apartment  for  John  Home,  who  was  to 
be  there  in  a  fortnight.  But  I  immediately  took  Neil  [  ], 
a  trusty  servant,  who  had  been  with  him  last  year,  and  could 
serve  us  both  now,  as  I  required  but  very  little  personal  ser 
vice.  The  very  day  after  I  came  to  London,  I  had  wrote  a 
paper  signed  Nestor,  in  support  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  who 
was  then  in  a  tottering  state.  This  paper,  which  appeared  on 
the  23d  of  December,  drew  the  attention  of  Lord  Elibank 
and  other  Scotch  gentlemen  who  attended  the  British  Coffee- 
house,  which  convinced  me  that  I  might  continue  my  political 
labors,  as  they  were  acceptable  to  Administration.  At  this 
time  I  did  not  know  that  the  Duke  of  Grafton  was  so  near 
going  out,  but  soon  after  I  discovered  it  by  an  accident.  On 
one  of  the  mornings  which  I  passed  with  Lord  Mansfield, 
after  he  had  signified  his  entire  approbation  of  my  measures 
to  obtain  an  exemption  for  the  clergy  of  Scotland,  I  took  the 
liberty  of  saying  to  him  in  going  down  stairs,  that  his  Lord 
ship's  opinion  was  so  clear  in  our  favor,  that  I  had  nothing  to 
wish  but  that  he  would  be  so  good  as  to  say  so  to  the  Duke 
of  Grafton.  His  answer  surprised  me,  and  opened  my  eyes. 


430  BARRE  AND  LORD  NORTH. 

It  was,  "  I  cannot  speak  with  the  Duke  of  Grafton  ;  I  am  not 
acquainted  with  his  Grace ;  I  never  conversed  with  him  but 
once,  which  was  when  he  came  a  short  while  ago  from  the 
King  to  offer  me  the  seals.  I  can't  talk  with  the  Duke  of 
Grafton ;  so  good  morning,  Doctor.  Let  me  see  you  again 
when  you  are  further  advanced."  I  went  instantly  with  this 
anecdote  to  my  friend  Mrs.  Anderson,  at  the  British,  and  we 
concluded  almost  instantly,  without  plodding,  that  the  change 
of  the  ministry  was  nigh  at  hand.  When  I  saw  her  next 
day,  she  told  me  she  had  seen  her  brother,  Dr.  Douglas,  who 
was  struck  with  my  anecdote,  and  combining  with  it  some 
things  he  had  observed,  concluded  that  the  fall  of  the  Duke 
of  Grafton  was  at  hand,  which  proved  true. 

This  accordingly  took  place  not  long  after,  when  Charles 
York,  the  second  son  of  the  Chancellor  Hardwick,  having 
been  wheedled  over  to  accept  the  seals,  and  being  upbraided 
severely  for  having  broken  his  engagements  with  his  party, 
put  himself  to  death  that  very  night ;  which  was  considered  a 
public  loss,  as  he  was  a  man  of  parts  and  probity.  Pratt  was 
appointed  Chancellor,  and  Lord  North  became  minister.  I 
was  in  the  House  of  Commons  the  first  night  that  he  took  his 
place  as  Premier.  He  had  not  intended  to  disclose  it  that 
night ;  but  a  provoking  speech  of  Colonel  Barre's  obliged  him 
to  own  it,  which  he  did  with  a  great  deal  of  wit  and  humor. 
Barre  was  a  clever  man  and  good  speaker,  but  very  hard- 
mouthed.*  I  was  the  first  person  at  the  British  after  the 
division ;  and  telling  Mrs.  Anderson  the  heads  of  North's 
speech,  and  the  firmness  and  wit  with  which  he  took  his  place 

*  See  the  debate  in  the  Parl  Hist.,  xvi.  705  et  seq.  —  The  name  of  Colonel 
Isaac  Barre",  so  conspicuous  in  its  day,  is  so  completely  excluded  from  ordi 
nary  biographical  works  of  reference,  that  it  may  be  useful  to  refer  to  a 
curious  notice  of  him  by  Walpole  in  his  Memoirs  of  George  HI.  (i.  109). 
Colonel  Barre*  gives  an  account  of  his  own  services  in  a  speech  reported  in 
Parl  Hist.,  xxiii.  156.  —  ED. 


NOKTH  AND  FOX.  431 

as  First  Minister,  she  concluded  with  me  that  he  would  main 
tain  it  long.  Lord  North  was  very  agreeable,  and,  as  a  pri 
vate  gentleman,  as  worthy  as  he  was  witty ;  but  having  un 
luckily  got  into  the  American  war,  brought  the  nation  into  an 
incredible  sum  of  debt,  and  in  the  end  lost  the  whole  American 
colonies.  He  professed  himself  ignorant  of  war,  but  said  he 
would  appoint  the  most  respectable  generals  and  admirals,  and 
furnish  them  with  troops  and  money ;  but  he  was  weak  enough 
to  send  the  Howes,  though  of  a  party  opposite  to  him,  who 
seemed  to  act  rather  against  the  Ministers  than  the  Americans. 
They  were  changed  for  other  commanders  ;  but  the  feeble 
conduct  of  the  Howes  had  given  the  Americans  time  to  be 
come  warlike,  and  they  finally  prevailed.  North  maintained 
his  ground  for  no  less  than  twelve  years  through  this  disgrace 
ful  war,  and  then  was  obliged  to  give  way  that  a  peace  might 
be  established.  This  at  first  was  thought  necessary  to  Great 
Britain  ;  but  Lord  North's  attempt  to  make  a  coalition  with 
his  former  opponents  having  failed,  and  Charles  Fox's  scheme 
of  governing  the  nation  by  an  aristocracy,  with  the  aid  of  his 
India  Bill,  being  discovered  and  defeated,  made  way  for  Mr. 
Pitt's  first  Administration  in  1783,  which  soon  restored  na 
tional  credit  and  promised  the  greatest  prosperity  to  the  British 
empire,  had  it  not  been  interrupted  by  the  French  Revolution 
in  1789,  and  the  subsequent  most  dangerous  war  of  1798.  It 
was  discovered  early  in  this  period  that  the  revolt  and  final 
disjunction  of  our  American  colonies  was  no  loss  to  Great 
Britain,  either  in  respect  of  commerce  or  war.  I  have  been 
led  to  this  long  digression  by  Lord  North's  having  become 
Premier  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1770. 

Although  the  discharge  of  my  commission  required  atten 
tion  and  activity,  yet  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  having  fre 
quently  referred  me  for  an  answer  to  a  distant  day,  I  took  the 
opportunity  of  making  frequent  excursions  to  places  where  I 
had  not  been. 


432  BATH  IN  1770. 

One  of  the  first  of  them  was  to  Bath  with  John  Home,  to 
pay  a  visit  to  his  betrothed,  Mary  Home,  whom  he  married  in 
the  end  of  summer.  He  had  sent  her  to  Bath  to  improve  her 
health,  for  she  was  very  delicate.  We  set  out  together,  and 
went  by  the  common  road,  and  arrived  on  the  second  day  lo 
dinner. 

Miss  Home  had  taken  a  small  house  at  Bath,  where  she 
lived  with  a  Miss  Pye,  a  companion  of  hers,  and  a  friend  of 
Mrs.  Blackett's.  They  lived  very  comfortably,  and  we  dined 
with  them  that  day.  Bath  is  beautifully  built,  and  situated  in 
a  vale  surrounded  with  small  hills  cultivated  to  the  top ;  and 
being  built  of  fine  polished  stone,  in  warm  weather  is  intoler 
ably  hot ;  but  when  we  were  there  in  the  beginning  of  March 
it  was  excessively  cold.  The  only  thing  about  it  not  agreeable 
to  the  eye  is  the  dirty  ditch  of  a  river  which  runs  through  it. 

On  the  morning  after  we  arrived,  we  met  Lord  Galloway 
in  the  pump-room,  who  having  had  a  family  quarrel,  had  re 
tired  to  Bath  with  one  of  his  daughters.  The  first  question 
he  asked  me  was,  if  I  had  yet  seen  our  cousin,  Sandie  Goldie, 
his  wife  being  a  sister  of  Patrick  Heron's.  I  answered  no, 
but  that  I  intended  to  call  on  him  that  very  day.  "  Do,"  said 
his  Lordship,  "  but  don't  tell  his  story  while  you  are  here,  for 
he  is  reckoned  one  of  the  cleverest  fellows  in  this  city,  for 
being  too  unreasonable  to  sign  receipts  for  above  £1,000,  the 
produce  of  the  reversion  of  his  estate.  He  makes  a  very 
good  livelihood  at  the  rooms  by  betting  on  the  whist-players, 
for  he  does  not  play."  Lord  Galloway  engaged  us  to  dine 
with  him  next  day.*  We  went  to  the  rooms  at  night,  and  to 
a  ball,  where  I  was  astonished  to  find  so  many  old  acquaint 
ances. 

We  had  called  on  Goldie,  who  engaged  us  to  dine  with  him. 
The  day  after  we  were  to  dine  at  Lord  Galloway's.  We 

*  Alexander  Stewart,  sixth  Earl  of  Galloway.     He  died  in  1773.  —  ED. 


END   OF  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  433 

met  with  Dr.  Gusthard,  M.  D.,  who  had  the  charge  of  Miss 
Home's  health.  He  was  the  son  of  Mr.  Gusthard,  minister 
of  Edinburgh,  and  being  of  good  ability  and  a  winning  ad 
dress,  had  come  into  very  good  business.  Lord  Galloway, 
though  quite  illiterate  by  means  of  the  negligence  of  his  trus 
tees  or  tutors,  was  a  clever  man,  of  much  natural  ability,  and 
master  of  the  common  topics  of  conversation.  We  dined  next 
day  at  Alexander  Goldie's,  where  we  had  the  pleasure  of  his 
Lordship's  company.  In  our  landlord  we  discovered  nothing 
but  an  uncommon  rapidity  of  speech  and  an  entertaining  flow 
of  imagination,  which  perhaps  we  would  not  have  observed  if 
we  had  not  known  that  he  had  been  cognosced  at  Edinburgh, 
and  deprived  of  the  management  of  his  estate. 

Next  day- we  made  a  party  to  Bristol  hot  wells,  and  added 
to  our  company  a  Miss  Scott,  of  Newcastle,  a  very  pleasing 
young  woman,  who  afterwards  married  an  eminent  lawyer 
there  ;  and  another  lady,  whose  name  I  have  forgot,  who  was 
a  good  deal  older  than  the  rest,  but  was  very  pleasant,  and 
had  £30,000,  by  which  means  she  became  the  wife  of  one  of 
the  Hathorns.  This  place  appeared  to  me  dull  and  disagree 
able,  and  the  hot  wells  not  much  better.  Next  day  we  dined 
at  Dr.  Gusthard's,  and  the  day  after  set  out  on  our  return  to 
London.  We  resolved  to  go  by  Salisbury  Plain  and  Stone- 
henge,  as  neither  of  us  had  ever  been  there,  both  of  which 
raised  our  wonder  and  astonishment,  especially  Stonehenge ; 
but  as  we  were  not  antiquarians,  we  could  not  form  any  con 
jecture  about  it.  We  got  to  London  next  day  before  dinner. 


19  BB 


STJPPLEMENTAEY    CHAPTEE. 

His  CORRESPONDENCE  ON  CHURCH  MATTERS.  —  His  INFLUENCE.  —  His 
LIGHTER  CORRESPONDENCE.  —  THE  GREAT  CONTEST  OF  THE  CLERK 
SHIP. —  THE  AUGMENTATION  QUESTION.  —  POLITICS.  —  COLLINS'S  ODE 
ON  THE  SUPERSTITION  OF  THE  HIGHLANDS.  —  CARLYLE  AND  POETRY. 
—  DOMESTIC  HISTORY.  —  His  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.  —  THE  COMPO 
SITION  OF  HIS  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  —  CONDITION  AND  EDITING  OF  THE 
MANUSCRIPTS.  —  His  LAST  DAYS.  —  His  DEATH. 

AT  this  point  the  Autobiography  stops,  the  pen  having 
literally  dropped  from  the  dying  Author's  hand.  It  would  be 
vain  and  presumptuous  to  attempt  to  carry  out  his  purpose  — 
the  intended  remainder  must  be  counted  among  the  world's 
literary  losses.  But  it  may  be  considered  proper  that  the 
Editor  should  briefly  notify,  for  the  reader's  instruction,  the 
subsequent  events  of  Carlyle's  life,  uttering  them,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  his  own  words,  by  enlivening  the  narrative  with 
such  passages  from  his  letters  and  other  writings  as  make  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  characteristics  of  his  Autobiography. 
The  project  he  had  undertaken  for  the  relief  of  his  brethren 
from  the  window-tax  was  a  tedious  and  tortuous  affair,  and 
cost  him  much  travelling,  talking,  and  writing  before  it  was 
effected.  If  he  had  lived  to  tell  the  story  of  his  labors,  wo 
would  have  had  vivid  sketches  of  many  a  little  scene  and 
character,  so  adorning  as  almost  to  conceal  the  train  of  unim 
portant  and  uninteresting  transactions.  But  no  one  would  be 
thanked  in  the  present  day  for  extracting  the  tenor  of  the 
narrative  out  of  the  official  despatches,  committee  minutes, 
and  other  like  documents  in  which  it  is  imbedded. 


DUNDAS  AND  THE  WINDOW-TAX.  435 

It  is  not  until  the  year  1782  that  this  matter  is  wound  up, 
in  a  letter  to  Dundas,  thanking  him  for  the  assistance,  "  with 
out  which,"  he  says,  "  I  could  not  have  so  satisfactorily  con 
cluded  my  little  affair  in  London ; "  and  as  this  letter,  after 
some  news  about  the  General  Assembly  and  the  new  Moder 
ator,  breaks  in  upon  some  larger  political  transactions,  a  pas 
sage  from  it  may  not  be  unacceptable.  It  refers  to  a  project 
for  sending  Dundas  out  as  Governor- General  of  India. 

"  I  don't  know  well  whether  to  be  glad  or  sorry,  to  hear  it  re 
peated  again  and  again  that  you  are  going  out  supreme  governor 
of  the  East  Indies,  with  full  powers.  I  am  sorry  you  should  dis 
appear  at  this  time  from  our  hemisphere,  as  I  have  a  chance  of 
being  set  myself  before  your  return.  I  am  much  more  sorry  that 
Britain  should  lose  the  advantage  of  your  virtue  and  abilities  at  so 
critical  a  period.  At  the  same  time,  I  must  own  that  this  is  but  a 
partial  view  of  the  subject ;  for  when  I  consider  how  many  millions 
of  the  human  race  look  for  a  guardian  angel  to  raise  and  perfect 
them,  I  see  a  shilling  path  in  the  East  that  leads  to  a  pinnacle  of 
glory  and  virtue.  Go,  then,  and  pursue  the  way  that  Providence 
points  out.  Your  health  may  be  in  danger,  but,  with  a  princi 
pality,  who  thinks  of  health  ?  besides,  a  sore  throat  or  a  colic  is 
as  dangerous  in  obscurity." 

The  window-tax  discussion  does  not,  however,  afford  many 
extracts  so  good  as  this ;  and,  indeed,  the  greater  portion  of 
Carlyle's  existing  correspondence  lies  under  a  like  disqualifi 
cation  to  be  the  companion  of  his  animated  Autobiography. 
The  letters  which  the  world  would  pick  out  from  the  corre 
spondence  of  a  man  of  rare  gifts  are  those  written  to  his  fa 
miliar  friends ;  but  he  himself  is  apt  to  preserve  as  the  more 
important  the  correspondence  upon  business  affairs  affecting 
public  or  private  interests  at  the  moment.  Hence,  among  the 
stores  placed  at  the  Editor's  disposal,  by  far  the  larger  portion 
refer  to  matters  of  local  interest  —  literally  parochial  affairs, 


436  BUSINESS   CORRESPONDENCE. 

which  called  for  dutiful  and  laborious  attention  in  their  day, 
but  cannot  be  resuscitated  with  either  profit  or  pleasure  at  the 
present  time.  There  are,  for  instance,  the  proceedings  of  a 
presbytery  or  a  synod  to  be  watched  and  managed.  Some 
leading  man  in  the  Church  court  has  got  into  bad  hands,  and 
must  be  rightly  advised,  otherwise  harm  will  come  of  it.  The 
right  man  must  be  thoroughly  backed  for  this  preferment  — 
the  wrong  man  will  get  that,  if  So-and-so  be  not  spoken  to, 
and  so  forth.  Such  affairs  had  their  little  world  of  living 
interest,  now  no  more. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  Carlyle  had  a  great  voice  in  the 
selection  of  the  men  who  were  either  to  be  brought  into  the 
Church  by  ordination  to  charges,  or  who  were  to,  be  advanced 
as  leaders  from  having  proved  themselves  worthy  in  the 
ranks.  No  one  will  expect  an  inquiry  to  be  here  pursued 
into  the  manner  in  which  he  exercised  in  each  case  the  in 
fluence  he  possessed.  If  the  lighter  motives  had  some  effect 
the  heavier  would  have  a  greater ;  and  it  would  be  wrong 
to  suppose  that  his  patronage  was  exercised  on  no  better 
ground  than  what  is  stated  in  the  following  little  characteristic 
passage,  though  he  no  doubt  thought  the  considerations  stated 
in  it  should  have  their  own  weight :  — 

"  Lord  Douglas  is  here  and  well.  A  church  of  his  in  the  Merse, 
called  Preston,  is  vacant  just  now.  The  incumbent  was  so  very  old 
that  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  may  be  engaged,  otherwise 
perhaps  your  Grace  might  take  the  opportunity  of  providing  for 
Mr.  Young,  the  handsome  young  man  and  fine  preacher,  who  is 
a  native  of  Dalkeith.  My  presentiment  in  his  favor  has  been  con 
firmed  by  inquiry.  If  Lord  Douglas  should  be  engaged,  suppose 
you  should  try  for  Bothwell,  which  can't  be  long  of  being  vacant  ? 
I  think  it  of  great  consequence  to  a  noble  family,  especially  if  they 
have  many  children,  to  have  a  sensible  and  superior  clergyman 
settled  in  their  parish.  Young  is  of  that  stamp,  and  might  be 


INFLUENCE  IN  PROMOTION.  437 

greatly  improved  in  taste,  and  elegance  of  mind  and  manners,  by 
a  free  entree  to  Lady  Douglas.  The  late  Lord  Hopetoun,  who  was 
a  man  of  superior  sense,  was  very  unfortunate  in  his  first  lady's 
time.  By  some  accident  the  highflying  clergy  were  chiefly  ad 
mitted  about  them.  Weak  heads  and  warm  imaginations  lie  open 
to  the  zeal  of  fanaticism  or  the  arts  of  hypocrites.  He  found  his 
error  when  it  was  too  late,  and  was  sorry  he  had  not  encouraged 
the  Wisharts  and  Blairs  to  come  about  him." 

Carlyle's  influence  in  ecclesiastical  promotion  appears  not 
to  have  been  entirely  limited  to  Scotland.  Occasionally  his 
distinguished  friends  would  find  a  place  for  a  student  who 
could  not  get  on  with  the  Presbyterian  system,  in  the  more 
manageable  Church  of  England  and  Ireland ;  as,  for  in 
stance  :  — 

"  There  is  an  old  assistant  of  mine,  J W by  name,  who, 

having  grown  impatient  at  not  obtaining  a  church  here,  took  orders 
in  the  Church  of  England  —  sold  a  little  patrimony  he  had,  and 
bought  a  chaplaincy  to  a  regiment.  Since  that  time  he  has  been 
always  unhappy.  He  was  for  some  years  in  Minorca,  where  he 
lost  his  health.  He  followed  the  regiment  to  Ireland,  where  he 
lost  his  sight.  He  came  to  Bath  and  recovered  his  health  and 
sight,  but  lost  his  substance.  He  applied  to  me  for  God's  sake  to 
get  him  a  curacy  anywhere,  that  he  might  be  able  to  pay  for  a 
deputy-chaplain.  I  recommended  him  to  a  friend  of  mine  in  Lon 
don,  who  procured  the  curacy  of  Hertford  for  him.  Soon  after  he 
wrote  me  from  thence  that  he  was  so  much  despised  in  that  town 
that  he  was  in  danger  of  hanging  himself." 

He  was  to  have  got  this  hopeful  parsonage  on  the  Chan 
cellor's  list,  but  there  were  technical  obstacles  ;  and  now  if 
the  correspondent  would  obtain  for  "  my  poor  despised  friend 
a  small  living  of  £  100  a  year  or  so,"  it  would  be  "  to  serve  a 
worthy  creature,  humble  as  he  is." 

There  are  more  pleasing  associations  connected  with  a 
scrap  of  writing  —  undated,  but  of  course  belonging  to  a 


438  YOUNG  ALISON. 

late  period  of  life.  Every  one  will  recognize  him  who  is 
its  object,  though  he  is  more  aptly  remembered  as  the  vener 
able  pastor  and  philosopher  than  as  the  young  Oxonian. 

"  Dr.  Carlyle  begs  leave  to  recommend  Mr.  Alison  to  Mr.  Dun- 
das's  best  offices,  as  a  young  divine  bred  in  the  Church  of  England, 
of  uncommon  merit  and  accomplishments.  After  the  usual  aca 
demical  education  at  Edinburgh,  Mr.  Alison  studied  two  years  at 
Glasgow,  and  from  thence  was  sent  as  an  exhibitioner  to  Baliol 
College  in  Oxford,  where  he  resided  for  nine  or  ten  years,  and 
where  he  received  ordination." 

In  another  letter  we  find  him  thanking  Dundas  for  taking 
"Archy  "  by  the  hand,  and  explaining  that  it  will  thus,  in  this 
instance,  be  unnecessary  to  draw  upon  the  patronage  of  Sir 
William  Pulteney,  with  whom  also  Carlyle  had  corresponded 
about  his  young  friend.* 

In  the  same  letter  in  which  he  thus  holds  out  a  hand  to  a 
young  aspirant,  he  pleads  at  greater  length  and  with  deeper 
earnestness  the  cause  of  his  old  friend  Adam  Ferguson,  whom 
he  expected  to  die  before  he  had  been  paid  the  debt  of  fame 
and  fortune  which  the  world  owed  to  him,  or  even  realized  the 

*  It  has  been  said,  however,  on  good  authority,  that  it  was  to  Pulteney 
that  Alison  owed  his  promotion  in  England.  See  Memoir  of  Alison  in  the 
fragment  of  a  Biographical  Dictionary  by  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Useful  Knowledge.  In  a  letter  by  Pulteney,  dated  22d  June,  1784,  there 
is  this  pleasant  account  of  Alison's  marriage  to  the  daughter  of  Dr.  John 
Gregory  :  "  Andrew  Stuart  and  I  accompanied  Mr.  Alison  to  Thrapston, 
and  the  marriage  took  place  on  the  19th  by  a  license  from  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  I  conducted  them  afterwards  to  their  residence,  and  we  left 
them  next  morning  after  breakfast  as  happy  as  it  is  possible  for  people  to 
be.  Mr.  Alison  was  obliged  to  corne  round  by  London  in  order  to  take  an 
oath  at  granting  the  license,  and  I  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  which  the 
journey  afforded  me  of  making  an  acquaintance  with  him;  for  though  I  had 
little  doubt  that  Miss  G.  had  made  a  proper  choice,  yet  I  wished  to  be  per 
fectly  satisfied;  and  the  result  is,  that  I  think  neither  you  nor  Mr.  Nairne 
have  said  a  word  too  much  in  his  favor." 


ADAM  FERGUSON.  439 

means  of  securing  his  family  from  destitution.  It  so  happened 
that  Ferguson,  though  attacked  with  hopeless  looking  symp 
toms  in  middle  life,  wore  on  to  a  good  old  age  ;  and  that, 
through  various  chances,  he  became  wealthy  in  his  declining 
years.  That  the  world  had  done  gross  injustice  to  The,  His 
tory  of  the  Roman  Republic,  was  a  fixed  opinion  with  Carlyle  ; 
and,  in  pleading  for  its  author's  family,  he  says :  — 

"  I  do  not  know  hy  what  fatality  it  is  that  the  best  and  most 
manly  history  (with  some  imperfections,  no  doubt)  of  modern 
times,  has  been  so  little  sought  after.  The  time  will  come  when 
it  will  be  read  and  admired.  That  time,  I  hope,  is  not  at  a  great 
distance.  Germany  is  the  country  where  it  will  receive  its  name  ; 
and  when  the  report  returns  from  the  learned  there,  the  book  will 
begin  to  be  prized.  But  Ferguson  may  be  dead  by  that  time,  and 
an  Irish  edition  may  glut  the  market.  I  was  always  in  hopes  that 
some  of  you  would  have  quoted  it  in  the  House  of  Commons,  as 
Charles  Fox  did  Principal  Watson's  Philip,  for  some  of  his  purposes 
in  the  time  of  the  American  War.  I  am  sure  Ferguson's  contains 
ten  times  more  instruction  for  the  statesman  and  legislator  than  the 
other  does  ;  but  I  have  been  disappointed." 

By  far  the  greater  portion  of  Carlyle's  letters  which  have 
been  preserved  relate,  as  has  been  said,  to  matters  of  business 
—  such  as  those  dealt  with  in  the  preceding  quotations,  or  even 
affairs  of  still  less  interest.  Some  bundles  of  epistles,  addressed 
to  him,  show  that  he  had  a  wide  correspondence  of  a  lighter 
cast ;  and  he  is  reported  to  have  been  famous  as  a  fashionable 
letter-writer  —  a  highly-prized  accomplishment  in  his  day. 
Much  of  this  correspondence  was  with  the  female  aristocracy, 
including  members  of  the  two  great  Scottish  ducal  families, 
Argyle  and  Buccleuch.  He  was,  indeed,  as  he  said  his  pa 
rishioners  hinted  against  him  when  he  became  their  clergy 
man,  partial  to  the  company  of  his  superiors.  But  if  he  liked 
the  aristocracy,  the  aristocracy  liked  him  ;  the  two  met  half 


440  PARNASSIAN   CORRESPONDENCE. 

way,  and  he  was  a  man  who  could  hold  his  own  with  them. 
Thus  he  occupied  the  happy  though  often  rather  precarious 
position,  of  one  who  is  alike  removed,  on  the  one  hand,  from 
the  tuft-hunter,  possessing  nothing  but  sycophancy  to  give  for 
the  countenance  he  seeks ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  from  the 
surly  cynic,  who  cannot  trust  that  his  independence  will  hold 
good  beyond  the  circuit  of  his  tub.  No  doubt,  whatever  so 
ciety  one  keeps,  one  must  give  a  deference  to  its  laws  and 
customs  —  which  is  a  different  thing  from  paying  undue  defer 
ence  to  its  individual  members.  There  was,  in  that  day, 
among  the  enlightened  women  of  rank  who  cultivated  men  of 
genius,  a  propensity  to  get  the  most  out  of  them,  by  drawing 
upon  their  talents,  in  conversation  and  correspondences  of  a 
peculiarly  allegorical,  or,  as  he  terms  it,  "  Parnassian  "  charac 
ter,  a  little  like  the  euphuism  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
though  not  so  absolutely  hard  and  unnatural.  Moderate  as  it 
was,  however,  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  a  person  of  Carlyle's 
acute  and  sarcastic  character  well  adapted  to  it ;  and  we  can 
suppose  him  as  little  at  home  in  it,  as  his  friend  David  Hume, 
when  he  had  to  perform  the  Sultan  between  two  rival  beauties 
in  Madame  de  Tesse's  salon.  Such  efforts  of  this  kind  as  he 
unbent  himself  to,  appear,  however,  to  have  been  very  accept 
able.  Here,  for  instance,  follows  a  letter  to  his  amiable  friend, 
Lady  Frances  Scott.  In  pursuance  of  some  jocular  fiction, 
of  which  the  point  is  not  now  very  obvious,  he  had  been  ad 
dressing  her  as  the  ghost  of  Mrs.  M'Cormick  —  an  elderly 
female,  whose  death  has  been  brought  about  by  the  neglect 
and  cruelty  of  the  lady  —  characteristics,  of  course,  entirely 
the  reverse  of  her  true  qualities.  She  writes  back  "  from  the 
Elysian  fields,"  where  "  we  have  never  ceased  gliding  about 
the  heavens  with  the  happy  spirits  our  companions  ;  for  you 
must  know  that  the  chief  source  of  happiness  here  arises  from 
the  power  which  our  wings  give  us  of  never  being  two  minutes 


PARNASSIAN  CORRESPONDENCE.  441 

in  a  place."  There  is  a  certain  materiality,  however,  in  the 
elysium,  for  the  angels  or  goddesses  are  looking  after  affluent 
gods  with  broken  constitutions  ;  while  impoverished  deities  of 
the  male  sex  worship  where  there  is  neither  youth  nor  beauty, 
but  plenty  of  wealth,  to  attract.  Olympian  Jove  is  but  a  mas 
ter  of  the  ceremonies,  and  "Juno  is  neither  endowed  with 
celestial  loveliness  nor  awe-inspiring  dignity."  This  is  the 
way  of  stating  that  the  family  are  at  the  Bath  waters,  then  in 
their  pride,  with  the  successor  of  Beau  Nash  playing  the  part 
of  Olympian  Jove.  Carlyle's  answer,  instead  of  aiding  and 
developing  the  allegory,  is  apt  rather  to  scatter  its  filmy  text 
ure  by  outbreaks  of  practical  sagacity  and  homely  wit. 

"  At  my  return  from  the  south,  ten  days  ago,  I  found  your  lady 
ship's,  dated  from  Elysium,  which  transported  me  so,  that  I  had  to 
receive  sundry  twinges  in  the  region  of  the  heart,  by  the  daily  de 
cline  of  a  child  and  the  grief  of  her  mother,  who  is  the  greatest 
martyr  to  sensibility  that  ever  was  born,  and  at  last  to  get  a  great 
knock  on  the  pate  by  the  sudden  death  of  Dr.  Gregory,  who  was 
our  chief  stay  and  support,  before  I  could  recollect  that  I  was  still 
in  the  body.  Were  I  to  wait  till  I  could  answer  yours  from  the 
abodes  of  the  happy  in  the  manner  it  deserves,  millions  of  more 
ghosts  might  have  time  to  pass  the  Stygian  ferry.  But  why  should 
J  be  mortified,  that  as  much  as  heaven  is  above  hell,  your  ladyship's 
description  should  surpass  mine  ?  Though  I  dare  say  by  this  time 
you  imagine  that  I  am  to  behave  to  you  as  an  old  humorist,  a 
friend  of  mine,  did  long  ago  to  me.  We  were  in  use  of  corre 
sponding  together,  and  many  a  diverting  letter  I  had  from  him. 
At  last  he  took  a  panic  about  his  son,  who  was  at  school  here,  and 
wrote  me  a  long  letter,  complaining  of  what  he  was  well  informed, 
—  viz.  that  the  schoolboys  had  got  gunpowder,  and  were  in  daily 
use  of  firing  pistols  and  carabines  and  that  they  made  squibs  and 
crackers,  to  the  infinite  danger  of  their  own  lives ;  and  then  he 
quoted  me  an  hundred  fatal  accidents  that  had  happened  by  means 
of  gunpowder,  and  prayed  my  interposition  to  save  the  life  of  his 
son.  As  I  knew  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  the  evil  of  which  he 
19* 


442  PARNASSIAN  CORRESPONDENCE. 

complained,  as  three  regiments  of  foot,  with  a  train  of  artillery, 
were  encamped  in  the  Links,  I  first  read  one  of  the  most  extrava 
gant  chapters  in  all  Rabelais,  and  then  wrote  him  a  letter  assuring 
him  that  he  had  not  heard  the  hundred  part  of  the  truth  ;  for  that 
the  boys  were  arrived  at  the  most  dangerous  and  incorrigible  use  of 
powder,  and  then  gave  him  instances  —  such  as  that  they  came  to 
church  every  Sunday  with  swivel-guns  screwed  on  their  left  arms, 
with  which  they  popped  down  everybody  whom  they  disliked,  &c. 
The  effect  of  this  letter  was  that  the  old  gentleman  found  himself 
so  far  outdone,  that  it  entirely  broke  up  our  correspondence.  And 
when  I  employed  somebody  to  ask  him  the  reason  of  his  silence,  he 
said  that  the  young  folks  now-a-days  (this  was  fifteen  years  ago) 
went  such  lengths  in  fiction,  that  it  was  impossible  to  answer 
them. 

"  But  your  ladyship  shall  see  that  I  am  not  in  the  least  mortified 
by  your  letter,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  I  am  highly  delighted 
with  it,  and  value  it  more  than  I  would  do  a  new  volume  of  the 
Arabian  Nights  Entertainments.  Before  I  left  the  shades  below,  I 
had  a  peep  into  Elysium  myself;  and  though  I  did  not  find  things 
exactly  in  the  same  state  your  ladyship  did,  as  I  happened  not  to 
be  in  the  same  region  of  heaven,  that  can  be  no  objection  ;  for 
surely  there  can  be  no  Elysium  without  variety ;  but  that  may 
possibly  be  the  subject  of  another  letter.  In  the  mean  time,  I 
may  give  your  ladyship  some  intelligence  of  what  is  going  on 
here. 

"  By  the  by,  though  I  have  no  great  taste  now  for  that  part  of 
bliss,  which  your  ladyship  says  consists  in  everlasting  fleeting  about 
by  means  of  the  wings  that  make  a  part  of  the  celestial  body,  yet  I 
remember  the  time  when  I  should  have  thought  such  a  power  very 
material  to  happiness.  Bless  me  !  how  I  envied  the  happy  in  some 
island  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  —  not  Atlantic  —  whom  Peter  Wilkins 
represented  as  having  most  powerful  and  trusty  pinions.  But  in 
those  days  I  used  to  be  in  love,  and  thought  that  wings  would  make 
me  everywhere  present  with  my  mistress. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  Jupiter  is  henpecked,  since  he 
suffers  the  name  of  angel  to  be  prostituted  for  gold  in  his  dominion* 


PARNASSIAN  CORRESPONDENCE.  443 

I  suppose  he  draws  a  good  round  sum  by  way  of  tax  for  liberty  to 
go  by  that  name.  We  have  known  titles  of  honor  sold  upon  earth, 
you  know,  and  why  not  the  privilege  of  being  angels  ?  When  they 
have  once  given  their  hands,  they  '11  not  long  boast  of  their  angelic 
appellation. 

"  No  ;  really  we  are  very  much  imposed  upon.  Happiness  does 
not  consist  in  the  place  —  it  resides  in  the  disposition  of  the  person, 
and  the  company.  The  material  difference  in  your  abode  and 
mine  consisted  in  the  long  stories  that  were  such  a  torment  to  me, 
and  that  you  were  free  of. 

"  But  to  return  to  sublunary  things.  First,  as  to  public  diver 
sions :  I  have  neither  had  time  nor  inclination  to  mix  with  the 
conversable  world  in  the  capital,  near  which  I  reside  ;  so  that  I 
can  entertain  your  ladyship  with  very  few  pieces  of  news  of  any 
kind.  You  would  hear,  no  doubt,  of  the  mock  masquerade  they 
had  some  time  in  January.  That  piece  of  mummery  was  carried 
on  so  ill,  that  I  dare  say  they  won't  attempt  another  in  haste. 
The  two  Turks  met  with  rather  hard  usage,  considering  the  nat 
ural  as  well  as  assumed  gravity  of  their  characters.  The  one  was 
excluded  his  own  house  all  night  by  the  custom-house  porter,  being 
mistaken  for  a  vagrant  Turk  who  had  been  begging  on  the  streets 
all  winter ;  and  the  other  got  a  sad  curtain-lecture  from  his  wife 
for  having  embraced  a  religion,  even  but  in  disguise,  that  allows 
no  souls  to  women,  and  allows  of  four  wives  and  innumerable 
concubines. 

"  The  play-house  has  been  much  frequented  since  Mrs.  Yates 
arrived,  who  receives  infinite  applause.  For  though  she  often 
appears  on  the  stage  more  than  half-seas-over,  she  's  not  the  less 
agreeable  to  all  the  male  part  of  her  audience,  who  come  there  a 
little  disguised  themselves ;  and  in  this  land  of  obsequious  wives, 
you  know,  there  is  no  disputing  the  taste  of  the  men. 

"  With  respect  to  the  fine  arts,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that 
cookery  is  still  the  favorite  ;  and  as  we  were  a  little  behind  in 
that  article,  it  is  very  right  that  it  should  continue  to  be  progres 
sive  for  some  time.  The  men  of  genius  and  taste  who  frequent 
that  temple  of  pleasure  that  goes  by  the  name  of  Fortune's,  have 


444  PARNASSIAN  CORRESPONDENCE. 

subscribed  very  handsomely  to  enable  the  chief  priest  there  to  hire 
a  French  cook  of  the  first  accomplishments.  There  are  hundreds 
of  people,  indeed,  on  the  point  of  starving,  but  the  eminent  critics 
have  observed  that  there  is  the  greatest  race  of  genius,  and  that 
the  fine  arts  thrive  best,  in  the  time  of  public  calamities  —  such  as 
civil  war,  pestilence,  or  famine. 

"  General  Scott,  who  is  here  this  winter  looking  out  for  another 
wife  to  make  him  uneasy,  gives  the  most  superb,  elegant,  and  re 
fined  entertainments  that  ever  were  in  this  northern  region.  Poor 
Mr.  Stuart  Moncrief,  who  had  no  other  department  in  the  Temple 
of  Fame  but  that  which  is  allotted  to  the  makers  of  great  feasts, 
after  witnessing  one  of  the  General's  most  magnificent  repasts  — 
for  you  're  certain  he  could  not  be  a  partaker  —  went  home  and 
wept  for  two  hours  over  his  vanquished  reputation,  sickened,  and 
went  to  bed,  and  died,  for  anything  I  know,  next  day.  Dead,  he 
certainly  is,  to  glory  !  M' Queen,  the  lawyer,  who  felt  a  very 
different  passion  from  envy,  after  having  devoured  of  twenty-seven 
several  dishes,  attacked  at  last  ancient  pye  with  so  much  vivacity, 
that  he  had  nigh  perished  in  the  cause  —  at  least  he  was  able  to 
attend  no  other  cause  for  a  fortnight. 

"  We  are  to  propose  to  next  General  Assembly  that  a  certain 
deadly  sin,  for  which  both  men  and  women  used  to  do  penance  and 
be  severely  rebuked  in  the  Church,  shall  be  blotted  out  of  our 
Statute-Book,  and  the  sin  of  Gluttony  put  in  its  place. 

"  As  to  the  state  of  learning  this  winter,  I  am  told  there  are 
many  poorer  students  than  usual.  But  they  say  they  are  better 
boys,  and  mind  the  ladies  less  than  they  used  to  do.  The  English 
of  that  is,  I  fancy,  that  as  there  are  but  few  men  of  fortune  among 
them,  the  aunts  and  the  mothers  don't  mind  them.  The  misses, 
dear  angels,  I  hope  are  above  valuing  any  man  but  for  his  personal 
merit.  Lord  Monboddo,  one  of  the  most  learned  judges,  is  just 
about  publishing  a  book,  in  which  he  demonstrates  that  mankind 
walked  originally  on  all-fours,  like  other  animals,  and  had  tails  like 
most  of  them:  that  it  was  most  likely  5000  years  before  they 
learned  to  walk  in  an  erect  posture,  and  5000  more  before  they 
could  learn  the  use  of  speech.  The  females,  he  thinks,  might 
speak  two  or  three  centuries  sooner." 


PARNASSIAN   CORRESPONDENCE.  445 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  what  may  be  considered  the  same 
order  of  composition,  although  it  is  varied  to  suit  the  taste  of 
a  male  correspondent.  It  is  taken  from  the 

"  Scroll  of  a  Letter  to  Sir  JOHN  MACPHERSON,  Bart.        1797. 

"  Although  one's  correspondence  with  one's  friend  should  be 
never  so  much  interrupted  by  business  or  idleness,  there  are  cer 
tain  occasions  when  they  must  not  be  neglected,  such  as  marriages 
and  births,  and  even  death  itself.  As  the  last  has  lately  befallen 
me,  though  I  am  happily  restored  to  life,  I  think  it  is  proper  to 
announce  to  you,  my  very  good  friend,  my  return  to  this  world, 
and  to  give  you  some  account  of  the  slight  peep  I  had  into  the 
other.  About  a  month  ago  I  was  suddenly  seized,  after  a  hearty 
dinner,  with  a  dreadful  colic,  which  lasted  for  fifty  hours,  which 
threatened  immediate  dissolution,  and  actually  sent  me  out  of  the 
body  for  a  few  minutes.  During  that  short  period  (like  Mahomet 
in  his  dream)  I  had  a  view  of  Elysium,  hanging,  as  I  thought,  on 
the  brink  of  a  cloud,  and  every  moment  ready  to  descend.  But, 
as  I  saw  clearly  before  me,  the  first  group  I  perceived  was  David 
Hume,  and  Adam  Smith,  and  James  Macpherson,  lounging  on  a 
little  hillock,  with  Col.  James  Edmonstone  standing  before  them, 
brandishing  a  cudgel,  and  William  Robertson  at  David's  feet  in  a 
listening  posture.  Edmonstone  was  rallying  David  and  Smith,  not 
without  a  mixture  of  anger,  for  having ,  contributed  their  share  to 
the  present  state  of  the  world ;  the  one,  by  doing  everything  in  his 
power  to  undermine  Christianity,  and  the  other  by  introducing  that 
unrestrained  and  universal  commerce,  which  propagates  opinions 
as  well  as  commodities.  The  two  philosophers,  conscious  of  their 
follies,  were  shrunk  into  a  nutshell,  when  James  the  bard,  in  the 
act  of  raising  himself  to  insult  them,  perceiving  my  gray  hairs  hang 
ing  over  them  in  the  cloud,  exclaimed,  '  Damn  your  nonsensical 
palaver ;  there  is  Carlyle  just  coming  down,  and  John  Home  and 
Ferguson  cannot  be  far  behind,  when  I  shall  have  irresistible  evi 
dence  for  the  authenticity  of  Ossian.  Blair,  I  dare  say,  is  likewise 
on  the  road,  and  1  hope  he  '11  bring  his  dissertation  on  my  works 
along  wi!,h  him,  which  is  worth  a  thousand  of  his  mawkish  sermons, 


446  HIS  SOCIAL  HABITS. 

which  are  only  calculated  to  catch  milk-sops  and  silly  women.' 
Upon  this  Robertson  rose  to  his  feet,  and  seemed  to  be  in  act  to 
speak  one  of  his  decisive  sentences  in  favor  of  the  winning  side, 
when  Joseph  Bidck,  and  Charley  Congalton,  and  Sandy  Wood, 
who  had  hold  of  the  skirts  of  my  coat,  fearing  I  should  leap  down 
at  the  sight  of  so  many  of  my  friends,  and  carry  them  after  me, 
made  a  sudden  and  strong  pull  altogether,  and  jerked  me  back 
into  life  again,  not  without  regret  at  being  disappointed  in  meeting 
with  so  choice  a  company. 

The  social  habits  of  Carlyle  were,  doubtless,  like  other 
men's,  much  influenced  by  his  domestic  position.  It  was  his 
lot  to  taste  of  more  than  the  average  amount  of  human  sor 
row,  for  he  lost  all  his  children  at  an  early  period,  and  while 
there  were  yet  above  thirty  years  of  his  own  earthly  pilgrim 
age  to  be  performed.  The  last,  his  son  William,  born  in  1773, 
died  in  1777.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  perhaps  his  memoranda 
might  not  have  left  traces  of  so  continued  a  succession  of  visits 
and  receptions  of  guests.  While  they  show  him  to  have  been 
much  in  the  world,  however,  they  bear  no  trace  of  his  being 
addicted  in  later  life  to  the  social  convivialities  where  males 
only  can  be  present ;  for  his  faithful  partner,  Mary,  is  his 
almost  constant  companion,  whether  his  visits  be  to  a  ducal 
mansion  in  London,  or  to  the  quiet  manse  of  some  old  com 
panion,  How  it  continued  to  fare  with  him  and  with  hi; 
chosen  friends  may  best  be  told  in  one  or  two  extracts  fron 
the  letters  in  which  he  communicates  the  passing  news  to  hi? 
correspondents.  One  of  his  early  companions  —  a  John  Mac- 
pherson  —  had  been  signally  fortunate  in  life.  Getting  into 
the  service  of  the  East  India  Company,  he  rose  by  stages, 
though  not  without  unpropitious  casualties,  until  he  became 
Sir  John  Macpherson,  and  the  successor  of  Warren  Hastings 
as  Governor  of  British  India.  To  him  Carlyle  thus  reports, 
in  1796,  about  some  of  their  common  friends:  — 


SOCIAL  CORRESPONDENCE.  447 

"  Now  for  an  account  of  your  old  friends,  which,  if  you  saw  Fer 
guson  as  he  passed,  which  I  think  you  did,  I  might  spare. 

"  To  begin  with  Robertson,  whom  you  shall  see  no  more.  In  one 
word,  he  appeared  more  respectable  when  he  was  dying  than  ever 
he  did  even  when  living.  He  was  calm  and  collected,  and  even 
placid,  and  even  gay.  My  poor  wife  had  a  desire  to  see  him,  and 
went  on  purpose,  but  when  she  saw  him,  from  a  window,  leaning 
on  his  daughter,  with  his  tottering  frame,  and  directing  the  gar 
dener  how  to  dress  some  flower-beds,  her  sensibility  threw  her  into 
a  paroxysm  of  grief;  she  fled  up  stairs  to  Mrs.  Russell  and  could 
not  see  him.  His  house,  for  three  weeks  before  he  died,  was  really 
an  anticipation  of  heaven. 

"  Dr.  Blair  is  as  well  as  possible.  Preaching  every  Sunday  with 
increasing  applause,  and  frisking  more  with  the  whole  world  than 
ever  he  did  in  his  youngest  days,  no  symptom  of  frailty  about  him ; 
and  though  he  was  huffed  at  not  having  an  offer  of  the  principality, 
he  is  happy  in  being  resorted  to  as  the  head  of  the  university. 

"  John  Home  is  in  very  good  health  and  spirits,  and  has  had 
the  comfort,  for  two  or  three  winters,  of  having  Major  Home,  his 
brother-in-law,  a  very  sensible  man,  in  the  house  with  him,  which 
makes  him  less  dependent  on  stranger  company,  which,  in  advanced 
years,  is  not  so  easy  to  be  found,  nor  endured  when  it  is  found. 

"  With  respect  to  myself,  I  have  had  many  warnings  within  these 
three  years,  but,  on  the  whole,  as  I  have  only  fits  of  illness,  and  no 
disease,  I  am  sliding  softly  on  to  old  age,  without  any  remarkable 
infirmity  or  failure,  and  can,  upon  occasions,  preach  like  a  son  of 
thunder  (I  wish  I  were  the  Bold  Thunderer  for  a  week  or  two 
against  the  vile  levelling  Jacobins,  whom  I  abhor).  My  wife,  your 
old  friend,  has  been  better  than  usual  this  winter,  and  is  strong  in 
metaphysics  and  ethics,  and  (can)  almost  repeat  all  Ferguson's  last 
book  of  Lectures,  which  do  him  infinite  honor.  I  say  of  that  book, 
that  if  Reid  is  the  Aristotle,  Ferguson  is  the  Plato  of  Scotch  philos 
ophers  ;  and  the  Faculty  of  Arts  of  Edinburgh  have  adopted  my 
phrase." 

The  following,  from  a  letter  to  Principal  Hill,  dated  25th 
September,  1801,  gives  an  account  of  a  visit  to  Lord  Mel- 


448  SOCIAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

ville  when  he  had  retired  with  Pitt  on  the  formation  of  the 
Addington  Administration  :  — 

"  We  had  Jesse  Bell  and  her  husband,  Mr.  Gregg,  and  their  son 
from  London,  for  ten  days,  in  the  middle  of  August,  which  gratified 
and  amused  us :  and  about  the  end  of  it  John  Home  and  I  had  a 
fine  jaunt  to  Duneira.  We  set  out  on  the  25th  of  August,  and  re 
turned  on  the  1st  of  September,  and  were  much  pleased  with  our 
reception  everywhere,  as  well  as  with  the  country,  which  was  then 
in  the  highest  beauty,  and  where  we  had  never  been  before. 

"  Our  great  object,  no  doubt,  was  the  retired  statesman,  whom  it 
delighted  us  to  see  so  well  and  so  happy,  and  as  easy  and  degage  as 
he  was  in  his  boyish  days. 

"  I  was  afraid  that,  like  most  of  ex-ministers,  his  gayety  might  be 
put  on  to  save  appearances.  However,  as  his  was  not  a  fall,  but  a 
voluntary  and  long-projected  retreat,  and  as  he  is  conscious  that 
his  great  exertions  have  not  only  saved  his  own  country,  but  put  it 
in  the  power  of  Europe  to  save  themselves,  while  the  applauses  of 
his  country,  universal  and  unreserved,  at  once  resound  his  uncor- 
rupted  integrity,  as  well  as  his  unbounded  capacity,  —  I  believe 
him  genuine  and  sincere. 

"  I  compared  his  place  to  an  eagle's  nest,  which  pleased  him. 
But  I  did  not  add,  that  he  was  like  the  thunder-hearing  bird  of 
Jove,  whom  his  master  had  allowed  to  retire  awhile,  after  his  war 
with  the  giants,  to  recreate  himself  from  the  toils  of  war,  and  sport 
with  his  own  brood ;  but  who,  in  the  midst  of  carelessness  and  ease, 
still  throws  his  eyes  around  him,  from  his  airy  height,  to  descry  if 
the  regions  of  the  air  are  again  disturbed,  and  to  watch  the  first 
nod  of  the  Imperial  King,  to  take  wing  and  resume  his  place  in  the 
Chariot  of  War. 

"  We  passed  three  days  and  three  nights  with  him,  one  at  Och- 
tertyre  and  another  at  Monzie,  and  fain  would  I  have  gone  down 
the  country,  as  I  had  never  been  farther  up  before  than  at  Lord 
Kinnoul's.  But  my  partner,  in  spite  of  all  his  heroic  tragedies,  was 
too  much  afraid  of  the  water  to  take  any  other  road  than  Stirling 
Bridge.  The  country  was  truly  rich  and  yellow  with  grain,  and 
the  harvest  far  advanced  for  the  1st  of  September. 


SOCIAL   COEEESPONDENCE.  449 

"  Plenty,  thank  God,  has  returned,  but  I  am  afraid  peace  is  still 
at  a  distance. 

"  Buonaparte  is  entirely  governed  by  personal  considerations, 
and  he  has  still  the  chance  of  an  invasion  in  Ireland  to  establish  his 
throne  awhile.  I  can  hardly  think  he  will  venture  to  invade  Brit 
ain.  Yet,  if  Admiral  de  Winter  should  fight  an  obstinate  battle 
off  our  coast,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  a  few  transports  should  land 
with  2000  men  anywhere  between  this  and  Newcastle,  it  might 
prove  very  troublesome,  while  their  main  effort  was  made  on  Ire 
land.  In  the  interval  left  us,  we  are  in  high  preparation  here,  and 
our  camp,  with  the  force  in  Edinburgh,  are  put  in  condition  to  act 
together  with  effect  on  the  shortest  warning.  . 

"  There  was  a  fine  show  on  Tuesday,  as  you  would  see  in  the 
papers,  and  there  is  to  be  a  repetition  of  it  on  Braid  Hills  next 
week. 

"  Major  Elliot,  of  the  Lanarkshire,  said  to  me  that  their  Tues 
day's  work  was  worth  all  they  had  been  taught  before,  and  he  is  a 
soldier  of  name." 

The  reader  will  have  noticed  the  keen  zest  with  which  Car- 
lyle  always  watched  the  politics  of  the  time,  whether  home  or 
foreign.  It  is  infinitely  to  be  regretted,  therefore,  that  he  did 
not  bring  down  his  Autobiography  through  the  French  Revo 
lution  and  the  Great  War.  He  would  have  spoken,  no  doubt, 
entirely  on  one  side,  but  with  that  breadth  and  fixity  of  opin 
ion  which  partakes  more  of  devotion  than  of  mere  partiality 
or  prejudice,  and  is  both  respectable  and  interesting  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who  think  otherwise.  His  politics,  indeed,  were 
a  political  faith  that  never  swerved.  While  many  of  his 
friends  were  frightened  into  their  Conservative  opinions  by 
the  terrors  of  the  French  Revolution,  lie  took  and  kept  his 
position  calmly  in  the  very  front  of  his  party,  like  a  soldier  at 
his  post.  The  resoluteness  of  the  resistance  offered  by  such 
men,  not  only  to  innovation,  but  to  the  mere  raising  of  the 
faintest  question  of  the  necessity  of  matters  being  as  they  are, 

CC 


450  HIS  POLITICS. 

is  a  thing  which  it  is  difficult  for  men  of  any  party  to  realize 
in  the  year  1860. 

By  the  Test  Act,  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
were  in  England  placed  legally  in  the  same  position  as  other 
dissenters  from  the  Church.  Loving  and  admiring  his  own 
Church  as  he  did,  it  might  have  been  anticipated  that  he 
would  rather  further  than  repress  a  remonstrance  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  1791,  in  which  they  represented  that 
the  members  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  were  unequally  dealt 
with,  since  they  could  not  hold  any  office  in  England  without 
taking  the  communion  according  to  the  Church  of  England ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  no  similar  compliance  was  required 
of  Episcopalians  holding  office  in  Scotland.  But  he  was  not 
to  be  caught  by  this  bait,  nor  was  he  to  remain  silent  while  it 
was  held  out  to  the  weak  and  inexperienced.  He  came  forth 
not  merely  in  favor  of  the  Test,  but  in  strong  championship 
of  it.  It  was  to  be  supported  upon  grounds  of  toleration 
towards  the  Established  Church  of  England,  which  well 
merited  such  protection.  "  In  this  enlightened  and  liberal 
age,  when  toleration  has  softened  the  minds  of  men  on  re 
ligious  opinions,  it  would  disgrace  the  General  Assembly  to 
do  anything  that  might  seem  to  separate  the  two  Established 
Churches  farther  from  each  other.  Their  doctrines  are  nearly 
the  same ;  and  he  must  be  but  a  very  narrow-minded  Presby 
terian,  who,  in  the  various  circumstances  in  which  he  might 
be  placed,  could  not  join  in  the  religious  worship  of  the 
Church."  This  doctrine  must  have  been  a  little  startling  to 
those  brethren  who  inherited  even  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
doctrine  prevalent  in  his  youth,  —  that  the  bare  toleration  of 
Episcopacy  in  any  shape,  and  in  any  portion  of  the  empire, 
was  one  of  the  great  national  sins  for  which  Divine  vengeance 
might  be  anticipated.  Nor  is  it  easy  to  realize  the  feelings 
with  which  the  representatives  of  the  Covenanters  would  re 
ceive  this  climax  of  a  speech  delivered  in  1791  •  — 


HIS  POLITICS.  451 

"  Nay,  Moderator,  had  I  the  talents  of.  &c.,  I  think  I  could  show 
that  the  Test  Act,  instead  of  an  evil,  is  a  blessing.  Tho  Test  Act 
has  confirmed  the  Union.  The  Test  Act  has  cured  Englishmen  of 
their  jealousy  of  Scotsmen,  not  very  ill-founded.  The  Test  Act  has 
quieted  the  fears  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  Test  Act  has  en 
larged  and  confirmed  the  principles  of  toleration  ;  so  far  is  it  from 
being  a  remnant  of  bigotry  and  fanaticism  as  the  memorial  would 
represent.  The  Act,  sir,  has  paved  the  road  to  office  and  prefer 
ment.  The  Test  Act,  sir,  for  there  is  no  end  of  its  praises,  is  the 
key  that  opens  all  the  treasures  of  the  south  to  every  honest 
Scotchman." 

But,  in  small  matters,  the  keenness  of  his  antipathy  to  any 
innovation  or  interference  with  established  authorities  might 
perhaps  be  even  more  distinctly  exemplified.  For  instance, 
in  1795,  a  Lady  Maxwell  represented  to  him  that  certain 
Highland  soldiers  at  Musselburgh  were  in  religious  desti 
tution  from  want  of  a  clergyman  speaking  Gaelic.  She  calls 
them  "  well-disposed  officers,  sergeants,  and  privates,"  though 
it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  there  could  then  be  commissioned 
officers  unacquainted  with  the  general  language  of  the  empire. 
She  offers  the  services  of  an  enthusiastic  youthful  mission 
ary  for  the  occasion,  and  this  suggested  interference  with  the 
established  order  of  things  in  his  Majesty's  army  and  the 
parish  of  Inveresk  calls  from  its  minister  the  following  se 
vere  rebuke :  — 

"  Dr.  Carlyle  presents  respectful  compliments  to  Lady  Maxwell. 
He  received  her  ladyship's  card,  in  answer  to  which  he  has  to  ob 
serve,  that  she  proceeds  on  misinformation.  The  officers  who  com 
mand  the  several  regiments  encamped  are  too  conscientious,  and 
understand  their  duty  too  well,  to  let  their  soldiers  be  without  the 
ordinances  of  religion  in  a  tongue  they  understand.  Two  chaplains, 
men  of  respect  and  of  standing  in  the  Church,  have  performed  pub 
lic  worship  in  the  Gaelic  language  every  Lord's  day  in  camp  since 
ever  it  was  established. 


452  HIS   POLITICS. 

"  With  respect  to  her  ladyship's  design,  of  the  purity  of  which  Dr. 
Carlyle  has  not  the  smallest  doubt,  it  belongs  to  the  commanding 
officers  to  approve  of  it  or  not,  and  not  to  him ;  but  perhaps,  on 
being  better  informed,  Lady  Maxwell  may  not  think  it  necessary 
to  employ  her  student  in  theology,  however  well  qualified  she  may 
hold  him  to  be,  to  interfere  officiously  with  the  duty  of  the  two 
clergymen  of  mature  age  and  acknowledged  ability.  The  young 
man,  at  least,  seemed  not  to  abound  in  prudence,  when  he  pressed 
so  earnestly  as  he  did  to  be  allowed  to  visit  the  condemned  prison 
ers,  whom  two  clergymen  had  been  anxiously  and  diligently  pre 
paring  for  their  fate  for  the  whole  preceding  week. 

"  Those  times  of  sedition  and  mutiny  seem  to  require  that  every 
person  in  office  should  be  left  to  do  his  OAvn  duty,  and  that  strangers 
should  be  cautious  of  intermeddling  with  the  religious  tenets  or 
principles  of  any  set  of  people,  especially  those  of  the  army. 

"  Mussb.,  July  17,  1795. 

"  To  LADY  MAXWELL,  Dowager  of  Pollock, 
at  Rosemount,  near  Edinburgh." 

If  there  be  something  a  little  incongruous  to  the  small 
occasion  in  the  tone  of  this  rebuke,  it  will  perhaps  be  admit 
ted  that  there  is  something  sublime  in  the  following  brief 
testimony  to  his  principles,  delivered  to  the  General  Assem 
bly  in  1804,  —  two  years  after  he  had  passed  his  eightieth 
year,  and  one  before  his  death :  — 

"  Note  of  what  I  said  (Assembly,  1804),  when  an  address  to  his 
Majesty  was  read,  in  which  was  an  expression,  the  awful  state,  or 
the  awful  situation  of  this  country:  — 

"  MODERATOR,  —  I  was  so  unlucky  as  not  to  be  able  to  attend 
the  committee  who  drew  up  this  address,  and  consequently  have 
heard  it  now  for  the  first  time.  In  general  I  am  well  pleased  with 
the  address.  But  there  is  one  phrase  in  it,  which  has  just  now 
been  read,  that  I  do  not  like.  I  do  not  like  to  have  it  known  to 
our  enemies,  by  a  public  act  of  this  Assembly,  that  we  think  our 
country  in  an  awful  state,  which  implies  more  terror  and  dismay 


THE   CLERKSHIP   QUESTION.  453 

than  I  am  willing  to  own.  "When  the  Almighty  wields  the  ele 
ments,  which  are  His  instruments  of  vengeance  on  guilty  nations 
—  when  heaven's  thunders  roll  and  envelop  the  world  in  fire  — 
when  the  furious  tempest  rages,  and  whelms  triumphant  navies  in 
the  deep  —  when  the  burning  mountain  disgorges  its  fiery  entrails 
and  lays  populous  cities  in  ashes ;  —  then,  indeed,  I  am  overawed  : 
I  acknowledge  the  right  arm  of  the  Almighty  :  I  am  awed  into  rev 
erence  and  fear  :  I  am  still,  and  feel  that  He  is  God  :  I  am  dumb, 
and  open  not  my  mouth.  But  when  a  puny  mortal,  of  no  better 
materials  than  myself,  struts  and  frets,  and  fumes  and  menaces, 
then  am  I  roused,  but  not  overawed  ;  I  put  myself  in  array  against 
the  vain  boaster,  and  am  ready  to  say,  with  the  high  priest  of  the 
poet,  I  fear  God,  and  have  no  other  fear." 

The  year  1789  became  disagreeably  memorable  to  Carlyle, 
from  his  having  then  been  defeated  in  an  object  of  ambition, 
which  was  near  his  heart,  and,  as  he  thought,  fairly  within  his 
reach.  This  was  the  appointment  to  the  office  of  Clerk  to 
the  General  Assembly,  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  Dr. 
Drysdale,  in  whose  appointment  he  had  been  largely  instru 
mental.  The  salary,  £  80  a  year,  was  an  object  to  a  clergy 
man  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  the  position  and  influence 
towards  which  the  office  might  be  rendered  available  were  of 
far  higher  moment.  To  understand  this,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  keep  in  view,  that  the  constitution  of  that  Church  admits 
of  no  hierarchy  or  gradation  of  offices.  Every  body  of  men, 
acting  in  a  collective  or  corporate  capacity,  must,  however, 
have  some  person  presiding  over  them  to  regulate  their  pro 
ceedings,  and  represent  them  in  their  communications  with 
the  rest  of  the  world.  For  the  preservation  of  the  Presby 
terian  polity  from  the  encroachments  of  any  such  officer,  how 
ever,  the  "  Moderator,"  who  presides  over  the  proceedings  of 
each  Church  Court,  is  elected  periodically,  or  for  the  occa 
sion.  Permanent  appointments  are  given  to  subordinate  offi 
cers  only,  and  each  Church  Court,  from  the  General  Assem- 


454  THE  CLERKSHIP   QUESTION. 

bly  downwards,  has  thus  its  clerk,  who  is  the  servant  of  the 
collective  body.  It  will  naturally  happen,  however,  under 
such  arrangements,  however  skilfully  devised,  that  where  one 
kind  of  man  really  is  what  he  professes  to  be,  a  servant, 
another  kind  of  man  becomes  a  master.  Hence,  it  is  often,  on 
the  occasion  of  such  appointments,  a  question  of  more  conse 
quence,  Who  can  be  kept  out  ?  than,  Who  can  be  put  in  ? 

Carlyle  not  unnaturally  concluded  that  he  had  done  ser 
vices  to  the  Church  at  large,  and  to  many  of  its  ministers, 
which  entitled  him  to  expect  this  small  recompense  at  their 
hands. 

On  the  other  hand,  for  reasons  which  the  tenor  of  his  Auto 
biography  reveals  with  sufficient  distinctness,  there  was  a 
large  party  among  the  clergy  determined  to  do  all  that  their 
strength  enabled  them  to  do  to  defeat  him.  The  public  emi 
nence  and  extensive  social  influence  on  which  his  claims 
rested  were,  in  their  eyes,  the  strongest  motives  for  resist 
ance.  He  represented  what  to  them  were  hostile  interests. 
These  interests  were  as  yet  outside ;  by  endowing  him  with 
an  office  of  place  and  trust  among  them,  they  would  be  bring 
ing  the  enemy  within  the  gates.  The  taking  of  the  vote  was 
a  great  field-day,  for  which  the  forces  had  been  long  mustered 
and  disciplined  on  both  sides  —  the  friends  of  Government, 
with  Dundas  at  their  head,  taking  the  part  of  Carlyle  ;  while 
the  cause  of  his  competitor,  Dr.  Dalzel,  was  led  by  Harry 
Erskine,  the  great  jester.  It  was,  however,  a  question,  not 
merely  of  ecclesiastical  politics,  but  of  soundness  in  opinion 
and  teaching,  and  on  this  matter  his  enemies  occupied  the 
strong  position  of  professing  to  be  sounder  in  faith  and  stricter 
in  conduct  than  his  friends.  When  such  an  element  as  this 
affects  a  contest,  it  is  sure  to  disturb  the  original  numerical 
strength  of  the  parties,  by  a  sort  of  intimidation.  The  side 
professing  greater  sanctity  frightens  its  more  timid  opponents 


THE   CLERKSHIP   QUESTION.  455 

into  a  compromise.  They  are  afraid  of  bringing  on  them 
selves  the  suspicion  of  heterodoxy;  —  they  are  often  conscious 
of  something  about  themselves  that  would  not  easily  endure 
a  hostile  scrutiny,  and  so  they  purchase  peace  by  compliance 
with  their  natural  opponents,  or  by  keeping  out  of  the  way : 
so  Carlyle  found  it. 

The  vote  stood  at  first  145  for  Carlyle,  and  142  against  him, 
so  that  he  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  three.  He  took  his 
place  as  clerk,  and  delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  stated 
that  it  had  ever  been  his  object  in  ecclesiastical  courts  to  cor 
rect  and  abate  the  fanatical  spirit  of  his  country,  —  an  allusion 
by  no  means  likely  to  mitigate  the  wrath  of  his  opponents. 
But  the  matter  was  by  no  means  decided.  It  had  been  ar 
ranged  that  there  should  be  a  scrutiny  of  the  foundation  of 
each  voter's  right  of  membership,  and  that  the  decision  of  the 
Assembly  should  be  as  the  relative  numbers  stood  after  the 

bad  votes  were  struck  out.      It  was  as  if  a  division  of  the 

~^ 

House  of  Commons  at  the  beginning  of  a  session  should  stand 
subject  to  the  deduction  of  the  votes  of  all  the  members  who 
may  be  afterwards  found  by  an  election  committee  to  be  un 
duly  elected.  It  would  be  useless  to  describe  the  technicali 
ties  of  such  a  process ;  but  it  is  pretty  clear  that,  like  the 
contemporary  controverted  elections  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  there  was  no  rigid  law  to  govern  it,  and  much  of  it  was 
decided  rather  through  casual  victories  than  the  application  of 
fixed  general  principles.  The  contest  was  long  and  keen,  and 
apparently  not  quite  decorous,  as  we  may  infer  from  the  fol 
lowing  short  account  of  it,  in  a  very  moderately  toned  work,  — 
Dr.  Cook's  Life  of  Principal  Hill:  — 

"  In  canvassing  the  claims  on  the  Commissions  to  which  objec 
tions  were  made,  there  was  displayed  ingenuity  that  would  have 
done  credit  to  a  more  important  cause  ;  but  with  this  there  was 
mingled  a  degree  of  violence,  unworthy  of  the  venerable  court  in 


456  THE  CLERKSHIP   QUESTION. 

which  it  was  exhibited.  The  debates  were  protracted  to  a  most 
unusual  length,  and  upon  one  occasion,  after  all  regard  to  order 
had  been  cast  aside,  the  Moderator,  with  unshaken  firmness,  ex 
ercised  the  power  which  he  conceived  to  be  vested  in  him.  He 
turned  to  the  Commissioner,  and  having  received  his  consent  that 
the  Assembly  should  meet  at  a  certain  hour  next  day,  he  adjourned 
the  house.  Amidst  the  loudness  of  clamor,  this  step,  which  none 
but  a  man  of  courage  and  nerve  would  have  taken,  was  applauded ; 
and  it  probably  was  useful  in  putting  some  restraint  on  the  angry 
passions  which  had  before  been  so  indecently  urged.  Previous  to 
the  scrutiny,  the  Moderator,  having  been  asked  to  declare  for 
whom,  in  the  event  of  an  equality,  he  would  vote,  Tie  replied  that 
he  now  voted  for  Dr.  Carlyle ;  thus  unequivocally  showing  whom 
he  was  eager  to  support,  although  he  might  have  avoided  thus 
explicitly  giving  his  voice  against  Mr.  Dalzel,  for  whom  he  had 
a  high  esteem,  and  with  whom,  as  Professor  of  Greek,  he  had 
maintained  such  kindly  intercourse." 

Carlyle  found  his  opponent  gaining  so  surely,  that  he  aban 
doned  the  contest.  The  result  irritated  him  at  first,  and  his 
anger  was  naturally  directed  less  against  his  avowed  enemies 
than  those  who,  though  ranked  of  his  own  party,  had,  for  the 
reasons  already  explained,  voted  against  him  or  stayed  away. 
But  while  the  voice  of  his  friends  was  still  for  war,  to  be 
carried  on  in  a  new  Assembly  or  in  the  Court  of  Session, 
he  wrote  to  the  all-influential  Dundas,  recommending  peace. 
''Although  the  court,"  he  says,  "should  sustain  themselves 
judges  —  and  I  suppose  they  would  —  yet  the  suit  might 
prove  so  very  tedious  as  to  render  it  totally  unworthy  of  all 
the  trouble,  were  we  even  certain  of  being  victorious  in  the 
end.  Some  people  think  that  next  Assembly  may,  on  the 
ground  of  the  protest,  take  up  the  business  and  reverse  what 
has  been  done  by  the  last ;  but,  God  knows,  this  is  not  worth 
while  ;  for  it  would  oblige  me  to  exert  every  species  of  power 
or  interest  we  have  to  bring  up  an  Assembly  stronger  on  our 


THE  AUGMENTATION  QUESTION.  457 

side  than  the  last,  which  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  do,  as  our 
opponents  would  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost."  In  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Blair,  as  the  representative  of  the  more  zealous  of  the 
party,  Dundas,  while  explaining  with  his  usual  practical  sa 
gacity  the  impolicy  of  continuing  the  contest,  says :  "  If  Mr. 
C.  were  a  young  man,  and  the  office  £500  a  year  instead  of 
£  80, 1  would  undertake  the  cause,  and  would  certainly  carry  it ; 
but  for  such  a  paltry  object,  it  is  scarce  worth  while  to  renew 
such  a  disagreeable  contest." 

Two  years  later,  Carlyle  engaged  in  a  contest,  in  which  the 
clergy  as  a  body  were  on  his  side,  against  the  landed  gentry 
of  Scotland.  It  was  inaugurated,  indeed,  in  1788,  by  Sir 
Harry  Moncreiff  Well  wood,  the  most  distinguished  member 
of  the  opposite  party  in  the  Church,  in  a  pamphlet  called 
"  Sketch  of  a  Plan  for  Augmenting  the  Livings  of  the  Minis 
ters  of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland."  Since  the  first 
deliberate  disposal,  after  the  Reformation,  of  the  ecclesiastical 
property  of  Scotland,  there  existed  a  certain  amount  of  reve 
nue  or  rent  charge,  which  was  stamped  with  the  legal  charac 
ter  of  being  available  to  the  Church,  while  it  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  land-owners,  who  were  enabled  to  make  their 
possession  fully  nine  tenths  of  the  law.  Much  of  the  ecclesi 
astical  history  of  Scotland,  in  fact,  clusters  round  the  efforts 
made  on  one  side  to  keep,  and  on  the  other  to  take,  this  fund. 
From  the  beginning,  the  zealous  protesting  barons  who  had 
got  possession  of  the  property  of  the  old  Church,  when  de 
sired  to  give  it  up  for  the  purposes  of  the  new,  said  that  such 
an  idea  was  a  fond  imagination  ;  and  in  the  same  spirit,  modi 
fied  to  the  condition  of  the  times,  their  successors  had  treated 
all  efforts  to  enlarge  the  income?  of  the  clergy  out  of  the  "  un 
exhausted  teinds,"  as  the  chief  substance  of  the  fund  was 
technically  termed. 

In  the  General  Assembly,  Carlyle  adopted  the  tone  that 
20 


458  THE  AUGMENTATION  QUESTION. 

the  Church  was  entitled  to  what  it  demanded  ;  and  that  by 
the  help  it  had  given  —  first,  in  establishing  the  Hanover  suc 
cession,  and  next,  in  supporting  law  and  order  —  it  had  well 
earned  the  frank  assistance  of  the  Government  and  the  aris 
tocracy  in  securing  its  rights.  The  following  passage  is  taken 
from  one  of  his  speeches  on  this  matter:  — 

"  I  must  confess  that  I  do  not  love  to  hear  this  Church  called  a 
poor  Church,  or  the  poorest  Church  in  Christendom.  I  doubt  very 
much  that,  if  it  were  minutely  inquired  into,  this  is  really  the  fact. 
But,  independent  of  that,  I  dislike  the  language  of  whining  and 
complaint.  We  are  rich  in  the  best  goods  a  Church  can  have  — 
the  learning,  the  manners,  and  the  character  of  its  members. 
There  are  few  branches  of  literature  in  which  the  ministers  of 
this  Church  have  not  excelled.  There  are  few  subjects  of  fine 
writing  in  which  they  do  not  stand  foremost  in  the  rank  of  authors, 
which  is  a  prouder  boast  than  all  the  pomp  of  the  Hierarchy. 

"  We  have  men  who  have  successfully  enlightened  the  world  in 
almost  every  branch,  not  to  mention  treatises  in  defence  of  Christi 
anity,  or  eloquent  illustrations  of  every  branch  of  Christian  doctrine 
and  morals.  Who  have  wrote  the  best  histories,  ancient  and  mod 
ern  ?  —  It  has  been  clergymen  of  this  Church.  Who  has  wrote  the 
clearest  delineation  of  the  human  understanding  and  all  its  powers  ? 
—  A  clergyman  of  this  Church.  Who  has  written  the  best  system 
of  rhetoric,  and  exemplified  it  by  his  own  orations  ?  —  A  clergyman 
of  this  Church.  Who  wrote  a  tragedy  that  has  been  deemed  per 
fect  ?  —  A  clergyman  of  this  Church.  Who  was  the  most  profound 
mathematician  of  the  age  he  lived  in  ?  —  A  clergyman  of  this 
Church.  Who  is  his  successor,  in  reputation  as  in  office  ?  Who 
wrote  the  best  treatise  on  agriculture  ?  Let  us  not  complain  of 
poverty,  for  it  is  a  splendid  poverty  indeed  !  It  is  paupertas  fecun- 
da  virorum." 

The  Government  brought  in  a  bill  for  "  the  Augmentation 
of  Stipends,"  but  they  found  the  country  gentlemen  of  Scot 
land  too  strong  for  them,  and  it  was  abandoned.  In  the  Gen- 


COLLINS' S   ODE.  459 

eral  Assembly  Carlyle  took  the  opportunity  of  dropping  some 
sharp  remarks  on  the  ingratitude  thus  shown  to  the  Church, 
and  did  not  spare  his  friend  Dundas.  A  jocular  country 
clergyman  remarked  that  nothing  better  could  come  of  syco 
phancy  ;  and  told  a  story  how  a  poor  neighbor  of  his  own, 
after  a  course  of  servility,  had  got  nothing  but  castigation  in 
the  end,  and  found  no  better  remonstrance  to  make  than  that 
which  had  been  addressed  to  Balaam,  —  "  Am  not  I  thine  ass, 
upon  which  thou  hast  ridden  ever  since  I  was  thine  to  this 
day."  The  allusion  took,  and  was  improved  by  Kay  the  cari 
caturist.  The  Government  promised  still  to  do  justice  to  the 
clergy,  but  they  had  to  wait  for  it  until  the  year  1810,  when 
the  Act  was  passed  for  bringing  all  stipends  up  to  a  minimum 
of  £150  a  year. 

On  the  establishment  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh  in 
1783,  Carlyle  made,  through  its  Transactions,  a  very  accept 
able  gift  to  literature.  Johnson,  in  his  Life  of  Collins,  refer 
red  to  the  loss  of  an  ode  on  the  Superstitions  of  the  Highlands, 
which  Dr.  Warton  and  his  brother  had  seen,  and  "thought 
superior  to  his  other  works,  but  which  no  search  has  yet 
found."  A  poem  so  wild  and  sweet  —  so  far  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  conventionalities  of  the  day,  and  so  full  of  im 
agery  drawn  direct  from  nature  in  her  highest  and  most  way 
ward  flights  —  was  not  likely  to  be  quite  forgotten  by  any  one 
who  had  seen  it.  Carlyle  remembered  having  read  it  in  1749 
with  Home,  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  and  John  Barrow,  who 
had  been  one  of  Home's  fellow-prisoners  in  Doune  Castle.* 
After  a  search,  Carlyle  found  the  actual  manuscript  of  the  ode 
in  an  imperfect  state.  He  and  Henry  Mackenzie  set  them- 

*  Barrow  was  "  the  cordial  youth  "  referred  to  in  the  concluding  stanza. 
One  might  suppose  that  he  was  the  same  kl  Barry  "  whom  Carlyle  met  in 
London  in  1769,  also  one  of  the  fugitives  from  Doune  (page  521).  But 
Barrow,  according  to  Carlyle's  letter  in  the  "  Transactions,"  died  pay 
master  of  the  forces  in  the  American  War  of  1756. 


460  COLLIXS'S   ODE. 

selves  to  filling  up  the  lacunae,  and  presented  it  in  a  complete 
shape  to  the  Royal  Society.  Soon  afterwards  the  ode  was 
published  from  what  was  said  to  be  an  original  and  complete 
copy,  which  of  course  deviated  from  the  other  on  the  points 
where  Carlyle  and  Mackenzie  had  completed  it.  This  copy 
was,  however,  printed  anonymously,  and  its  accuracy  has  not 
passed  unsuspected.  The  editor  of  Pickering's  edition  of 
Collins  (1858)  says:  "The  Wartons,  however,  had  read  and 
remembered  the  poem,  and  the  anonymous  editor  dedicated 
the  ode  to  them,  with  an  address.  As  this  called  forth  no  pro 
test  from  the  Wartons,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  they  acknowl 
edged  the  genuineness  of  the  more  perfect  copy ;  and  it  lias 
for  that  reason,  though  not  without  some  hesitation,  been 
adopted  for  the  text  of  this  edition." 

The  Royal  Society  version  has,  however,  its  own  interest 
on  the  present  occasion,  as  Carlyle's  interpolations  afford  some 
little  indication,  if  not  of  his  poetical  capacity,  at  least  of  his 
taste.  Here,  for  instance,  is  the  concluding  stanza,  with  the 
words  supplied  by  Carlyle,  printed  between  commas :  — 

"  All  hail,  ye  scenes  that  o'er  my  soul  prevail ; 

Ye  '  spacious  '  friths  and  lakes  which,  far  away, 
Are  by  smooth  Annan  filled,  or  pastoral  Tay, 

Or  Don's  romantic  springs,  at  distance  hail ! 
The  time  shall  come  when  I,  perhaps,  may  tread 

Your  lowly  glens,  o'erhung  with  spreading  broom, 
Or  o'er  your  stretching  heaths  by  fancy  led  : 

Then  will  I  dress  once  more  the  faded  bower, 
Where  Johnson  sat  in  Drummond's  '  social '  shade, 

Or  crop  from  Teviot's  dale  each  '  classic  flower/ 
And  mourn  on  Yarrow's  banks  '  the  widowed  maid.' 
Meantime,  ye  powers  that  on  the  plains  which  bore 

The  cordial  youth  on  Lothian's  plains,  attend ; 
Where'er  he  dwell,  on  hill  or  lonely  muir, 

To  him  I  love  your  kind  protection  lend, 
And,  touched  with  love  like  mine,  preserve  my  absent  friend." 


Oi;   THE   SUPERSTITIONS   OF   THE  HIGHLANDS.         461 

Here  is  another  specimen  of  the  interpolated  passages :  — 

"  'T  is  thine  to  sing  how,  framing  hideous  spells, 
In  Skye's  lone  isle  the  gifted  wizard  '  sits,' 
*  Waiting  in  '  wintry  cave  '  his  wayward  fits,' 
Or  in  the  depth  of  Uist's  dark  forest  dwells."  * 

Scott  said  of  Carlyle,  that  "  he  was  no  more  a  poet  than 
his  precentor,"  a  rather  hard  saying,  about  which  it  is  curious 
to  consider  that  Scott  must  certainly  have  had  his  mind  under 
the  influence  of  the  passage  just  cited  when  he  drew  his  own 
seer  Bryan  in  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  — 

"  'Midst  groan  of  wreck  and  roar  of  stream 
The  wizard  waits  prophetic  dream." 

It  is  observable  that  Carlyle's  interpolated  version  has  consid 
erably  more  resemblance  to  this  than  the  other  has. 

We  find  Carlyle's  contemporary,  Smollett,  giving  him  credit 
in  his  earlier  days  for  poetical  efforts  which  cannot  be  traced 
home  to  him.  Writing  in  1747,  Smollett  says  :  — 

"  I  would  have  been  more  punctual  had  it  not  been  for  Oswald 
the  musician,  who  promised  from  time  to  time  to  set  your  songs  to 
music,  that  I  might  have  it  in  my  power  to  gratify  the  author  in 
you,  by  sending  your  productions  so  improved.  Your  gay  catches 
please  me  much,  and  the  Lamentations  of  Fanny  Gardner  has  a 
good  deal  of  nature  in  it,  though,  in  my  opinion,  it  might  be  bet 
tered.  Oswald  has  set  it  to  an  excellent  tune,  in  the  Scotch  style  ; 
but  as  it  is  not  yet  published,  I  cannot  regale  you  with  it  at  pres 
ent." 

Whether  the  "  gay  catches  "  were  of  Carlyle's  composition 
or  not,  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  the  ballad  of  "  Fan 
ny  Gairdner"  was  written  by  his  friend  Sir  Gilbert  Elliot. 

*  In  the  other  version  it  stands  — 

"  'T  is  thine  to  sing  how,  framing  hideous  spells, 
In  Skye's  lone  isle  the  gifted  wizard  seer, 
Lodged  in  the  wintry  cave  with  fatal  spear, 
Or  in  the  depth  of  Uist's  dark  forest  dwells." 


462  POETRY. 

If  Carlyle  had  been  the  author,  it  is  likely  that  some  trace  of 
such  a  fact  would  have  been  found  in  his  Autobiography,  and 
so,  perhaps,  of  the  "  gay  catches."  There  is  a  small  hetero 
geneous  bundle  of  manuscript  verses  among  Carlyle's  papers, 
—  some  of  them  in  his  own  handwriting  and  some  in  others. 
They  are  all,  so  far  as  the  editor  is  aware,  unknown  to  fame, 
and,  on  consideration,  he  thought  it  the  better  policy  not  to 
meddle  with  them,  since  attempts  to  settle  the  authorship  of 
manuscript  literature  of  this  kind  are  apt  to  be  unsatisfac 
tory, —  the  conclusions  adopted  on  the  most  subtle  critical 
induction  being  often  upset  by  some  person  who  has  been 
pottering  among  old  magazines  and  newspapers.- 

It  would  have  been  extremely  interesting  if  Carlyle  had 
brought  down  his  Autobiography,  to  have  had  his  remarks  on 
the  new  literary  dynasty  of  which  he  lived  to  see  the  dawn. 
The  letters  written  to  him  show  that  he  interested  himself  in 
the  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  and  in  Southey's  early  poems, 
but  we  have  not  his  own  criticisms  on  them.  The  following 
on  Wordsworth,  however,  is  surely  interesting.  It  is  in  a 
letter  addressed  by  Carlyle  to  "  Miss  Mitchelson  :  "  — 

"  I  must  tell  you,  who  I  know  will  sympathize  with  me,  that  I 
was  very  much  delighted  indeed,  on  the  first  sight  of  a  new  species 
of  poetry,  in  '  The  Brothers,'  and  '  The  Idiot  Boy,'  which  were 
pointed  out  to  me  by  Carlyle  Bell,  as  chiefly  worthy  of  admiration. 
I  read  them  with  attention  and  was  much  struck.  As  I  call  every 
man  a  philosopher,  who  has  sense  and  observation  enough  to  add 
one  fact  relating  either  to  mind  or  body,  to  the  mass  of  human 
knowledge,  so  I  call  every  man  a  poet,  whose  composition  pleases 
at  once  the  imagination  and  affects  the  heart.  On  reading  '  The 
Brothers,'  I  was  surprised  at  first  with  its  simplicity,  or  rather  flat 
ness.  But  when  I  got  a  little  on,  I  found  it  not  only  raised  my 
curiosity,  but  moved  me  into  sympathy,  and  at  last  into  a  tender 
approbation  of  the  surviving  brother,  who  had  discovered  such  vir 
tuous  feelings,  and  who,  by  his  dignified  and  silent  departure,  ap 
proached  the  sublime.  After  being  so  affected,  could  I  deny  tb^fc 


HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.          463 

this  was  poetry,  however  simply  expressed?  Nay,  I  go  farther, 
and  aver  that,*  if  the  narration  had  been  dressed  in  a  more  artificial 
style,  it  would  hardly  have  moved  me  at  all. 

"  When  I  first  read  '  The  Idiot  Boy,'  I  must  confess  I  was  alarmed 
at  the  term  as  well  as  the  subject,  and  suspected  that  it  would  not 
please,  but  disgust.  But  when  I  read  on,  and  found  that  the  author 
had  so  finely  selected  every  circumstance  that  could  set  off  the 
mother's  feelings  and  character,  in  the  display  of  the  various  pas 
sions  of  joy  and  anxiety,  and  suspense  and  despair,  and  revived 
hope  and  returning  joy,  through  all  their  changes,  I  lost  sight  of  the 
term  Idiot,  and  offered  my  thanks  to  the  God  of  Poets,  for  having 
inspired  one  of  his  sons  with  a  new  species  of  poetry,  and  for  having 
pointed  out  a  subject,  on  which  the  author  has  done  more  to  move 
the  human  heart  to  tenderness  for  the  most  unfortunate  of  our  spe 
cies,  than  has  ever  been  done  before.  He  has  not  only  made  his 
Idiot  Boy  an  object  of  pity,  but  even  of  love.  He  has  done  more, 
for  he  has  restored  him  to  his  place  among  the  household  gods 
whom  the  ancients  worshipped." 

It  may  here  be  proper  to  say  a  few  words  on  a  matter  not 
likely  to  have  been  directly  alluded  to  by  Carlyle  himself,  — 
his  personal  appearance  and  deportment.  They  are  of  more 
than  usually  important  elements  in  his  biography,  since,  ac 
cording  to  the  tenor  of  some  traditions  and  anecdotes,  his 
remarkable  personal  advantages  exercised  a  great  influence 
both  on  himself  and  others.  The  portrait  after  Martin,  en 
graved  for  this  volume,  represents  a  countenance  eminently 
endowed  with  masculine  beauty.  His  appearance  has  been 
hitherto  chiefly  known  to  the  present  generation  through  the 
Edinburgh  portraits  of  Kay.  This  limner  had  the  peculiar 
faculty,  while  preserving  a  recognizable  likeness,  of  entirely 
divesting  it  of  every  vestige  of  grace  or  picturesqueness  which 
nature  may  have  bestowed  on  it.  In  this  instance  he  is  not? 
however,  quite  successful ;  for  even  from  his  flat  etchings,  the 
"  preserver  of  the  Church  from  fanaticism  "  comes  forth  a 
comely  man  with  a  rather  commanding  presence. 


464          HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  has  left  a  colloquial  sketch  of  him,  which, 
though  of  the  briefest,  is  broad  and  colossal  as  a  scrap  from 
the  pencil  of  Michael  Angelo.  He  is  discoursing  of  the 
countenances  of  poets  ;  some  that  represented  the  divinity  of 
genius,  and  others  that  signally  failed  in  that  respect.  "  Well," 
said  he,  "  the  grandest  demigod  I  ever  saw  was  Dr.  Carlyle, 
minister  of  Musselburgh,  commonly  called  Jupiter  Carlyle, 
from  having  sat  more  than  once  for  the  king  of  gods  and  men 
to  Gavin  Hamilton,  and  a  shrewd,  clever  old  carle  was  he,  no 
doubt ;  but  no  more  a  poet  than  his  precentor."  *  The  sitting 
to  Gavin  Hamilton  is  improbable.  Had  Carlyle  been  accus 
tomed  to  meet  this  great  painter,  something  would  certainly 
have  been  said  about  him  in  the  Autobiography.  In  what  is 
probably  a  variation  of  the  same  tradition,  it  is  said  that  a 
sculptor  accosted  him  on  the  streets  of  London  and  requested 
him  to  sit  for  Olympian  Jove.  The  late  Chief  Commissioner 
Adam,  in  a  few  anecdotes,  called  The  Gift  of  a  Grandfather, 
which  he  printed  at  a  press  of  his  own  for  private  distribution, 
says,  "  On  some  particular  occasion,  I  don't  exactly  recollect 
what,  he  was  one  of  a  mission  upon  Church  affairs  to  London, 
where  they  had  to  attend  at  St.  James's  in  the  costume  of 
their  profession.  His  portly  figure,  his  fine  expressive  coun 
tenance,  with  an  aquiline  nose,  his  flowing  silver  locks,  and  the 
freshness  of  the  color  of  his  face,  made  a  prodigious  impres 
sion  upon  the  courtiers ;  but,"  adds  the  Commissioner,  "  it 
was  the  soundness  of  his  sense,  his  honorable  principles,  and 
his  social  qualities,  unmixed  with  anything  that  detracted 
from,  or  unbecoming,  the  character  of  a  clergyman,  gave  him 
his  place  among  the  worthies." 

Besides  the  picture  engraved  for  this  work,  Martin  painted 
another  portrait  of  him,  far  more  ambitious,  but  not  so  pleas 
ing.  In  the  Autobiography  he  mentions  his  sitting  for  it, 

*  LOCKHART'S  Life,  iv.  1461. 


HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE.          465 

much  as  Sheridan  spoke  of  his  having  undergone  two  opera 
tions,  —  the  one  sitting  for  his  portrait,  the  other  getting  his 
hair  cut  (p.  423).  Of  the  completion  of  this  work  he  writes 
to  m*3  wife,  on  the  7th  of  April,  1770  :  "My  picture  is  now 
finished  for  the  exhibition.  It  looks  like  a  cardinal,  it  is  so 
gorgeously  dressed.  It  is  in  a  pink  damask  night-gown,  in  a 
scarlet  chair.  Martin  thinks  it  will  do  him  more  good  than 
all  the  pictures  he  has  done."  Besides  the  likenesses  by  Kay 
and  Martin,  there  was  a  portrait  by  Skirving,  of  which  an 
engraving  —  not  of  much  merit  —  is  in  the  hands  of  some 
collectors.  In  an  undated  letter  Lord  Haddington  says :  "  I 
am  much  obliged  to  you  for  recollecting  your  promise  of  sit 
ting  to  Eaeburn,  and  beg  that  it  may  be  a  head  done  on  can 
vas  of  the  ordinary  size.  I  mean  it  to  hang  as  an  ornament 
in  my  new  library,  and  that  size  will  answer  best."  Accord 
ingly,  there  are  two  entries  in  the  Diary.  "1796,  May 
19  —  began  to  sit  to  Raeburn  for  Lord  Haddington."  "9th 
June  —  sat  with  Raeburn  for  last  time."  A  letter  from  Lady 
Douglas  (his  old  friend,  Lady  Frances  Scott),  written  in  Feb 
ruary,  1805,  a  short  time  before  his  death,  refers  to  a  likeness 
by  an  artist  who  was  living  within  the  past  twelve  years.  "  I 
have  received  your  bust  from  Henning,  and  think  it  very 
strikingly  like  ;  but  I  do  not  think  that  he  has  quite  done  jus 
tice  to  the  picturesque  appearance  of  your  silver  locks,  which, 
'in  wanton  ringlets,  wave  as  the  vine  casts  her  tendrils.' 
If  I  have  time  I  will  go  and  see  his  drawing  while  I  am  at 
Dalkeith." 

His  Autobiography  was  the  great  occupation,  and  appar 
ently  also  the  great  enjoyment  of  the  concluding  years  of  his 
life.  He  began  it,  as  the  opening  announces,  in  the  year  1800, 
when  he  was  entering  on  his  seventy-ninth  year ;  and  he  ap 
pears  to  have  added  to  it  from  time  to  time,  until  within  a 
few  weeks  of  his  death.  The  last  words  written  in  his  own 
20*  DD 


4G'6  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

handwriting,  which  became  very  tremulous,  are  about  "  Lord 
North's  having  become  Premier  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1770"  (p.  431).  The  few  remaining  paragraphs  have  been 
written  to  dictation. 

It  will  naturally  have  surprised  the  reader  that,  at  so  ad 
vanced  an  age,  a  man  who  had  not  done  much  in  early  life  to 
give  him  the  facilities  of  a  practised  composer,  should  have 
written  with  so  much  vigor,  eloquence,  and  point.  At  the 
same  time,  the  sort  of  contemporary-like  freshness  with  which 
he  realizes  scenes  over  which  long  years,  crowded  with  other 
recollections,  had  passed,  looks  like  a  phenomenon  unexam 
pled  in  literature.  But  there  are  reasons  for  these  charac 
teristics.  The  editor  has  convinced  himself  that  the  favorite 
scenes  and  events  which  Carlyle  describes  had  been  from  the 
first  forming  themselves  in  his  mind,  and  even  resolving  them 
selves  into  sentences,  which  would  become  mellowed  in  their 
structure  and  antithesis,  by  the  more  than  obedience  to  the 
nonumque  prematur  in  annum.  The  habit  acquired  by  a 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  who  had  to  preach  ser 
mons  committed  to  memory,  would  form  the  practice  of  retain 
ing  finished  pieces  of  composition  in  the  mind.  This  view  of 
the  literary  growth  of  the  work,  though  originating  in  a  gen 
eral  impression  from  its  whole  tenor,  can  be  supported  by  a 
few  distinct  incidents  of  evidence.  The  chief  of  these  is  the 
repetition  at  considerable  intervals  of  the  same  scene  or  anec 
dote,  in  almost  the  same  words,  and  with  the  more  character 
istic  and  emphatic  expressions  identical.  Farther ;  there  is  a 
separate  manuscript  of  his  Autobiography,  down  to  the  year 
1735,  cited  in  the  notes  as  "  Recollections."  These  were  writ 
ten  at  different  times,  and  partly,  it  would  seem,  before  he 
began  the  present  work.  They  were  prepared  for  the  amuse 
ment  of  his  friend  Lady  Frances  Douglas  ;  and,  expanding 
into  rhetorical  decorations  and  jocular  allusions  —  probably  in- 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY.  467 

tended  to  enhance  their  interest  in  the  special  eyes  for  which 
they  were  destined  —  they  are  far  inferior,  except  in  a  few 
passages,  to  the  corresponding  portion  of  the  Autobiography. 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  they  are  substantially  the  same 
material  inflated  for  the  occasion. 

In  fact,  the  amount  of  repetition  in  the  Autobiography,  and 
the  absence  of  general  order  throughout,  show  that  the  author 
did  not  retain  the  full  faculty  of  arranging  the  collection  of 
finished  compositions  stored  up  in  his  mind.  When  there  is 
virtually  verbatim  repetition,  the  duplicate  of  the  passage  has 
been  omitted  in  the  printing.  But  it  was  impossible,  without 
depriving  the  work  of  its  racy  charms,  to  obliterate  every 
second  going  over  of  the  same  ground,  or  even  to  group  to 
gether  the  dispersed  passages  which  bear  upon  the  same  mat 
ter,  and  which  might,  had  the  author  written  at  an  earlier  and 
more  active  time  of  life,  have  been  fused  by  him  into  each 
other.  For  the  precision  with  which  he  notified  dates  and 
places  he  seems  to  have  been  indebted  to  a  series  of  accurate 
diaries.  There  exists  at  least  a  succession  of  diaries,  from  the 
sojourn  in  London  in  the  midst  of  which  the  Autobiography 
stops,  down  to  the  time  when  he  could  no  longer  write.  It 
is  likely  enough  that  these  had  predecessors  ;  they  may  have 
been  lost  sight  of,  from  his  having  taken  them  out  of  their  re 
pository  for  the  purpose  of  consulting  them  in  the  composition 
of  his  Autobiography.  The  diaries  which  exist  are  of  the 
very  briefest  kind,  intended  evidently  for  no  other  eye  but  his 
own,  and  containing  no  more  words  or  even  letters  than  might 
be  sufficient  to  recall  to  memory  the  dates  and  sequence  of 
the  events  of  his  life. 

Among  the  manuscripts  put  at  the  editor's  disposal,  there  is 
evidence  that  more  than  once  the  Autobiography  had  been 
prepared  for  the  press.  Apart  from  changes  made  by  copy 
ists,  the  author's  manuscript  has  been  largely  tampered  with, 
many  passages  are  scored  out,  and  a  great  deal  has  been  done, 


468  THE  MS.   OF  THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

no  doubt  with  the  best  intention,  to  substitute  properly-turned 
periods  and  balanced  sentences,  for  such  less  scientific  compo 
sition  as  Carlyle  was  capable  of  achieving.  It  fortunately- 
happened,  however,  that,  except  in  one  trifling  instance  men 
tioned  in  a  note,  the  original  text  was  recoverable,  and  its 
purity  restorable.  In  considering  his-  responsibilities  in  the 
matter,  the  editor  did  not  think  that  he  was  entitled  to  deprive 
the  world  of  what  the  author  had  thought  fit  to  communicate 
to  it ;  and  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  public  would 
prefer  Carlyle's  own  style  under  all  its  weight  of  Scotticisms 
and  obsolete  idioms,  to  the  best  modern  improvements  that 
might  be  made  on  it.  The  editor  consequently  made  it  his 
task  to  restore  the  suppressed  passages,  and  obliterate  the  im 
provements. 

The  existence  of  this  Autobiography  has  been  well  known, 
and  there  have  been  many  expressions  of  surprise  by  authors, 
from  Sir  Walter  Scott  downwards,  why  it  had  not  been  made 
public.  Perhaps  it  is  better  that  it  should  have  waited.  It  is 
easy  to  sympathize  with  a  reluctance  to  have  published  some 
portions  of  it  half  a  century  ago.  When  a  man  leaves  behind 
him  his  experience  and  opinions  as  to  his  contemporaries  in 
an  outspoken  book  —  as  this  certainly  is  —  the  manuscript  is 
apt  to  be  dismantled  of  one  ornament  after  another,  to  spare 
the  feelings  of  the  surviving  kindred.  In  this  way  records  of 
individual  conduct,  which  it  might  be  cruel  to  publish  imme 
diately,  are  lost  to  the  world ;  while,  if  they  were  preserved 
until  the  generation  liable  to  be  distressed  by  their  publica 
tion  have  departed,  they  might  be  given  forth  without  offence. 
What  at  one  time  is  personal,  irritating,  and  even  cruel,  be 
comes,  after  a  generation  or  two  has  departed,  only  a  valuable 
record  of  the  social  and  moral  condition  of  a  past  period. 
Though  the  popular  expectation  about  such  records  is,  that 
they  only  exist  to  remind  the  later  generation  of  pristine  times 
and  departed  virtues,  yet  the  account  of  personal  follies  and 


DECLINING  YEARS.  469 

vices  which  they  may  contain  have  their  own  weight  and  value 
as  part  of  the  history  of  the  period. 

While  he  was  struggling  through  increasing  years  and  in 
firmities  with  his  too  long  postponed  task,  the  last  and  greatest 
of  his  domestic  calamities  overtook  him  in  the  death  of  his 
wife,  in  the  31st  day  of  January,  1804.  For  once  the  hard 
brevity  of  the  diary  is  softened  by  a  touch  of  nature.  "  She 
composed  her  features  into  the  most  placid  appearance,  gave 
me  her  last  kiss,  and  then  gently  going  out,  like  a  taper  in  the 
socket,  at  seven  breathed  her  last.  No  finer  spirit  ever  took 
flight  from  a  clay  tabernacle  to  be  united  with  the  Father  of 
all  and  the  spirits  of  the  just." 

All  was  done  to  brighten  his  few  remaining  days  that  the 
affectionate  solicitude  of  relations  and  dear  friends  could  do. 
His  nephew,  Mr.  Carlyle  Bell,  was  all  to  him  that  a  son  could 
be,  and  held  that  place  in  his  affection.  Besides  the  scanty 
remnant  of  his  old  contemporary  friends,  there  rose  around 
him  a  cluster  of*  attached  followers  among  the  younger  clergy, 
foremost  and  best  beloved  of  whom  was  John  Lee,  the  late 
learned  and  accomplished  head  of  the  University  of  Edin 
burgh,  who  has  himself  just  passed  from  among  us,  well 
stricken  in  years.  Addressing  his  good  friend  Lady  Frances 
at  this  time,  he  thus  alludes  to  his  nephew  and  Lee  :  "  I,  who 
have  now  acquired  a  kind  of  personal  greatness,  by  means  of 
the  infirmities  of  age,  which  make  me  dependent,  have  by  that 
very  means  acquired  all  the  trappings  of  greatness.  For,  be 
sides  my  nephew,  who  is  my  governor,  nurse,  and  treasurer,  I 
have  got  likewise  a  trusty  friend  and  an  able  physician,  an  un 
commonly  good  divine  and  an  eminent  preacher  —  all  in  the 
person  of  one  young  man,  whom  I  have  taken  to  live  with 
me."  He  then  touches  on  a  matter  which  still  afforded  him 
an  interest  in  the  world  —  the  completion  of  the  new  church 
for  his  parish.  Its  slender  spire  is  a  conspicuous  object  for 
many  miles  around.  "  By  the  first  Sunday  of  August  I  in- 


470  DEATH. 

tend,  God  willing,  to  gratify  "hiy  people  by  opening  my  new 
church,  if  it  were  only  with  a  short  prayer  (for  Othello's  oc 
cupation 's  gone),  when  I  shall  have  been  fifty-seven  years 
complete  minister  of  this  parish."  But  it  was  not  to  be. 
Among  the  last  entries  in  his  brief  diary  in  1805,  are,  "  25th 
July  —  John  Home  and  Mrs.  Home;  27th  —  George  Hill 
called  going  east."  Next  day,  the  entry  is  "  very  ill ; "  for 
some  days  afterwards,  "  no  change ; "  and  the  last  entry,  as 
distinct  as  any,  is  "August  12th  and  13th,  the  same."  He 
died  on  the  25th.  So  departed  one  who,  if  men  are  to  be 
estimated,  not  by  the  rank  which  external  fortune  has  given 
them  or  the  happy  chances  they  have  seized,  but  by  the  in 
fluence  they  have  imparted  from  mere  personal  character  and 
ability,  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  remarkable  on  record. 
Born  in  a  simple  manse,  he  remained  all  his  days  that  type 
of  humble  respectability  —  a  village  pastor ;  nor  does  he  seem 
ever  to  have  desired  a  higher  sphere.  His  lot  was  not  even 
cast  on  any  of  those  wild  revolutionary  periods  which  give 
men  in  his  position  a  place  in  history ;  nor  did  he  attempt  any 
of  those  great  ventures  for  literary  distinction  in  which  many 
of  his  comrades  were  so  successful.  It  seems  to  have  been 
his  one  and  peculiar  ambition  that  he  should  dignify  his  call 
ing  by  bringing  it  forth  into  the  world,  and  making  for  it  a 
place  along  with  rank,  and  wealth,  and  distinction  of  every 
kind.  This  object  he  carried  through  with  a  Ijigh  hand  ;  and 
scarcely  a  primate  of  the  proud  Church  of  England  could 
overtop  in  social  position  and  influence  the  Presbyterian  min 
ister  of  Inveresk. 

He  was  laid  beside  his  long-departed  children  and  the  faith 
ful  partner  of  his  days,  in  his  own  churchyard,  which  he  had 
always  loved  for  the  beauty  of  the  prospect  it  overlooks.  The 
following  inscription,  composed  by  his  friend  Adam  Ferguson, 
was  engraved  upon  his  tomb :  — 


EPITAPH.  471 

ALEXANDER    CARLYLE,    D.D., 

FIFTY-SEVEN    YEARS    MINISTER    OF    THIS 
PARISH  ; 

BORN    ON    THE    26TH    JANUARY,    1722, 

DECEASED    ON    THE    25TH    AUGUST,    1805  J 

HAVING    THUS    LIVED 
IN    A    PERIOD    OF    GREAT    LUSTRE 

TO    THE    COUNTRY, 

IN    ARTS    AND  -ARMS, 

IN    LITERATURE    AND    SCIENCE, 

IN    FREEDOM,    RELIGIOUS    AND    CIVIL  : 

HE    TOO    WAS    WORTHY    OF    THE    TIMES  J 

LEARNED    AND    ELOQUENT, 
LIBERAL    AND    EXEMPLARY    IN    HIS    MANNERS, 

FAITHFUL   TO    HIS    PASTORAL    CHARGE, 

NOT    AMBITIOUS    OF    POPULAR    APPLAUSE, 

BUT     TO     THE     PEOPLE     A     WILLING     GUIDE 

IN    THE    WAYS    OF    RIGHTEOUSNESS 

AND    TRUTH  : 
IN    HIS    PRIVATE    CONNECTIONS, 

A    KIND    RELATION, 

AN    ASSIDUOUS    FRIEND, 

AND    AN    AGREEABLE    COMPANION  J 

NOT   IMMERSED    IN    SPECULATION, 

BUT    EARNEST   IN    ACTION, 

TO    PROMOTE    THE    MERIT    HE    ESTEEMED, 

OR   THE   PUBLIC  CAUSE   HE   ESPOUSED  J 

AND,    WHEN    FULL    OF   YEARS, 

CALMLY     PREPARED 

TO    DIE    IN    PEACE. 


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